Israel seeks Munich Olympics massacre compensation

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel is seeking further German compensation for relatives of Israeli athletes killed after being held hostage by Palestinian gunmen during the 1972 Munich Olympics, an Israeli official said on Sunday.

"I am conducting talks with the (state) government of Bavaria on behalf of the president of Israel, Moshe Katzav, and we hope they will end in success," said Arieh Shumer, a top aide to Katzav.

Shumer told Reuters he visited Germany 10 days ago to discuss compensation and met Erwin Huber, chief of staff to the premier in the Bavarian state government.

He gave no details about the discussions but said he planned to make a follow-up trip, without specifying a date.

A total of 11 Israeli athletes died after Palestinian members of the Black September group took them hostage in the Munich Olympic village.

Two hostages were killed by the gunmen and the remaining nine died during a bungled rescue attempt by German police at a nearby airport.

Der Spiegel Magazine said on Saturday that Bavarian authorities and the federal German government were considering what level of compensation to offer the families.

The 1972 massacre received wide publicity this Olympic year after a critical film, "One Day in September," won the Academy Award for best documentary.

Germany has long denied a legal responsibility for the killings. On Saturday Bavarian officials did not return calls on the subject and a spokeswomen for the government and the Foreign Ministry said they had no information.

Last January, Munich's Regional High Court rejected an appeal by 22 relatives of the dead athletes for 14.4 million marks (currently $6.46 million) in damages, including accrued interest.

It upheld a lower court's ruling in 1995 that the statute of limitations in the case had expired and found that the plaintiffs had not presented a "sound" argument about alleged police negligence in responding to the guerrilla raid.

The lower court ruled in 1995 that the cases were already covered by a 1973 compensation agreement under which Germany paid the victims' families a total of about $1 million and they agreed not to pursue further claims.

In past court proceedings in Germany, the relatives said that files showed that only five poorly equipped policemen, none trained as marksmen, were deployed against the hostage-takers, making a disastrous outcome almost inevitable.

The Bavarian government countered that German police risked their lives in an operation which was agreed with other German security services and with Israel.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about Middle East

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.