Berlin April 6, 1986 Germany
The La Belle discotheque bombing was a terroristic attack on a discotheque
in West Berlin that was frequented by US soldiers. It happened at Hauptstraße
78, close to the City hall of Schöneberg. A Turkish woman and two U.S.
servicemen got killed in the blast and 230 people injured, some permanently
disabled.
Libya was blamed for the bombing after telex messages had been intercepted
from the Libya's East Berlin embassy, and then U.S. President Ronald Reagan
retaliated by ordering airstrikes against the Libyan capital of Tripoli. At
least 15 people died in the U.S. airstrikes, including the 15-month-old daughter
adopted by leader Moammar Al Qadhafi, and more than 100 were injured.
In 2001, A Libyan diplomat, Musbah Abdulghasem Eter, and two Palestinians,
Yasser Mohammed Chreidi (or Yassar Al-Shuraidi or Yassir Chraidi) and Ali
Chanaa were convicted of aiding in murder and one of the Palestinians' former
German wife, Verena Channa was convicted of murder.
Two weeks before the Berlin blast, Gadhafi called for Arab assaults on American
interests worldwide after a U.S.-Libyan naval clash in the Mediterranean,
in which 35 seamen on a Libyan patrol boat in the Gulf of Sidra were killed
in international waters.
On August 17, 2003 it was reported that Libya had signalled the German government
that it is ready to offer compensation for the bombing. Lawyers for non-US
victims are seeking a total of 40.25 million.
