A German court has jailed four people for their roles in the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco which killed two US soldiers and a Turkish woman and injured 230.
The bombing of the La Belle disco in West Berlin on April 5th, 1986 led the Reagan government to launch attacks on Libya, citing "irrefutable" evidence that the Libyan leader, Col Gadafy, had ordered the attack.
The presiding judge, Mr Peter Marhofer, said yesterday that the bombing was one of the most "insidious crimes in German history".
Sgt Kenneth Ford (21) from the US and a Turkish woman, Ms Nermin Hannay (29), died at the scene, while Sgt James Goins died later in hospital.
Judge Marhofer said there was "no doubt" that the Libyan secret service "had overall charge" of the bombing, pointing to a telex sent from Tripoli to the Libyan embassy in East Berlin in 1986 approving "attacks against American targets". The La Belle was a favourite disco with US troops .
However the judge said there were just "indications" and no overwhelming evidence that Col Gadafy personally ordered the bombing. The judge blamed the "limited willingness" of German and US secret services to provide evidence, saying it was one of the "disappointments" of the trial.
Judge Marhofer said there was no doubt that German-born Ms Verena Chanaa had "planted the bomb and lit it with her own hands". Ms Chanaa was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Her sister, Ms Andrea HΣusler, "knew nothing" of the bombing, said Mr Marhofer, and will receive compensation for her time in prison.
The man accused of being the main organiser of the attack, Palestinian-born Mr Yassir Chraidi (42), was convicted of multiple counts of attempted murder and sentenced to 14 years. Two accomplices, Mr Musbah Eter, a 44-year-old Libyan, and Mr Ali Chanaa, a 42-year old German-Lebanese man were given 12 years each.
The 15-year-long investigation received a boost with the release of thousands of files compiled by the Stasi, the East German secret police. An intercepted radio transmission from Tripoli to the Libyan embassy in East Berlin in 1986 called for an attack "with as many victims as possible".
One of the defendants doubled as a Stasi informer and wrote detailed reports about the preparation of the bomb.
