From The Hindu Archives, December 22, 1975: 10 OPEC Ministers held hostage

Vienna, Dec. 21: A group of guerillas stormed the headquarters of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries here to-day, sprayed the building with machine-gun fire and seized 60 to 70 hostages - including senior Ministers from 9 or 10 OPEC member-nations. Among those held were Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, influential Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia and Mr. Jamshid Amouzegar, Iranian Interior Minister. Senior Indonesian officials, led by Dr. Elrich Sanger, were known to be inside the offices. Two Austrian detectives and another man were shot dead as the guerillas broke into the meeting of the OPEC Ministers. The Police said the guerillas had demanded an aircraft to fly them and their hostages to an unknown destination. It was assumed they planned to take the OPEC Ministers with them. Oil or other Ministers from Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela were also known to be inside the building. OPEC sources said it was unclear whether the Kuwait Oil Minister, Mr. Abdul Muttaleb al-Kazemi, was also being held. According to the Police one of the gunmen - thought to be a South American - was shot in the stomach shortly after the raid started and was in hospital undergoing a serious operation. The guerillas threatened to blow up the building if the man was not brought back to the OPEC offices - “dead or alive” - by 7 a.m. local time (06-00 GMT) to-morrow.) The guerillas had planted explosives and hand grenades inside the offices and threatened to blow up the building unless their demands were met by to-morrow morning. They also threatened to detonate their explosives if they were approached by armed forces. Published - December 22, 2025 05:50 am IST

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