At 7: 49 p.m., President Carter received a telephone message on ,behalf of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt informing him of the successful operation conducted by a special unit of West German border guards who freed the Lufthansa hostages at Mogadishu, Somalia. The President asked that the Chancellor be congratulated on the courage of his decision. The President feels that the West Germans have struck a blow for all of us who are vulnerable to this kind of terrorism. He wishes that the participants in the operation be commended and the Somalian Government thanked for its cooperation. The President sends his warmest greetings and his deepest feelings of relief to the hostages and their families.
Note: The Lufthansa Boeing 737 was hijacked by terrorists on October 13 during a flight from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Frankfurt, Germany.
The statement was made available by the White House Press Office. It was not issued in the form of a White House press release.
Jimmy Carter, West German Rescue of Hostages in Somalia White House Statement. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241995