Ex-Red Army Faction leader Klar released

STUTTGART, Germany, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Former Red Army Faction leader Christian Klar was released Friday from a German jail after serving 26 years of five concurrent life sentences, officials said.

Justice officials in the German city of Stuttgart said the 56-year-old Klar was granted parole last month after serving part of his sentence for being convicted of several killings, Deutsche Welle reported.

Klar was convicted of taking part in the 1977 kidnapping and killing of industry representative Hanns Martin Schleyer and also in the deaths of federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and Dresdner Bank Chief Executive Officer Juergen Ponto.

Klar has been tied to nine homicides but his alleged role in the crimes remains unclear.

Klar has remained steadfast in his refusal to identify the individuals responsible for the homicides and has not shown remorse for his convicted crimes, Deutsche Welle said.

Hamburg Interior Minister Christoph Ahlhaus has opposed Klar's release, citing the man's numerous crimes as a reason for continued incarceration.

Ahlhaus said release of Klar was "intolerable." He called Klar "a violent criminal who caused people such immeasurable pain and ... never distanced himself from his grave crimes."