W. German Court Gives Arab Terrorist 13 Years

A court today convicted Abbas Ali Hamadi and sentenced him to 13 years in prison for complicity in kidnaping two Germans in Lebanon in a scheme to keep West Germany from extraditing his brother to the United States on murder and hijacking charges.

Judge Klaus Arend, in pronouncing Hamadi, 29, guilty of kidnaping, attempted blackmail of the West German government and possessing explosives, defied threats made by the kidnapers against one German hostage still held.

“The court was not and will not be influenced by threats,” Arend said. “The only thing that can combat naked force is the impartial execution of the rule of law.”

Arend appealed to the kidnapers to free the hostage still held and to Arab states to use their influence to gain his release.

The 13-year sentence was higher than the 11 1/2 years prosecutors demanded and was considered a sign of the court’s determination to oppose terrorism.

Early Release Hinted

Arend held out the possibility that Hamadi could be released early if the one German hostage still held in Lebanon is freed and if Hamadi’s conduct is good in prison.

“The state is not unconciliatory,” he told Hamadi. “The court is not an avenging ghost. If (hostage Rudolf) Cordes is freed and you conduct yourself well in prison with no hypocritical piety, you can hope for release ahead of time.”

Hamadi, a Lebanese who became a West German citizen by marriage, kept his head bowed most of the time as the verdict was read. At times he fumbled with his tie. He shook his head in denial when Arend said he had once held a pistol to the head of one of the hostages and hit him.

Although his German is described as fluent, he once, apparently upset over the verdict, told the court, “I don’t understand a thing.”

The kidnaping of Cordes, a Hoechst chemical company executive, and Alfred Schmidt, a Siemens electronics company executive, in Beirut in January, 1987, came within 10 days of the arrest at Frankfurt Airport of Hamadi’s brother, Mohammed.

$1-Million Ransom Rumored

Schmidt was released after seven months captivity amid reports that a $1-million ransom was paid for his freedom.

Mohammed Ali Hamadi, 23, is accused of participating in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet to Beirut--at 17 days the longest hijacking on record--and the slaying of one of the passengers, U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem.

West Germany subsequently rejected an American request that Mohammed Hamadi be extradited to the United States to stand trial on hijacking and murder charges. Bonn promised the United States that it would try him in West Germany, but no trial date has been set.

During Abbas Hamadi’s trial in Duesseldorf, government witnesses told the court Bonn had feared that extradition would lead to the death of the two German hostages.