January 20, 1987 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
January 20, 1987 – a day of rounding up suspects and the breaking of a promise. The suspects in question were believed to be members of a Kurdish separatist group PKK, thought to be the ones behind the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme a little more than eleven months before. The three were brought into custody on suspicion of complicity in the murder of Palme. The PKK had declared War on the Palme government. A fourth person had admitted to the illegal procurement of a weapon. However, according to Sweden’s Chief Prosecutor, there wasn’t enough evidence to hold the four suspects overnight. The four were part of a group of twenty people rounded up by the Police in early morning raids this day. Three others were detained in connection with the murder of a Kurd in Sweden two years earlier. Several of those being held were suspected of being members of the PKK, which was classified by the Swedish government as a terrorist organization.
In Beirut, hostage negotiator Terry Waite was reporting progress during his second face to face meeting with terrorist kidnappers, and was ending the public meetings in West Beirut ahead of what was considered to be the most difficult and dangerous part of his mission; continuing on with secret face-to-face talks with kidnappers. With a promise and assurances that Waite would not become one of the hostages himself, he agreed to stay in Beirut one more day for one more round of secret talks. By the end of the day, the story would become very complicated.
The Iran-Iraq war was grinding on. Iraqi jets bombed Iran‘s historic city of Eshvahan while the ground war appeared relatively quiet.
And that’s just a sample of what went on, this January 20, 1987 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
