Munich officials ignored attack warnings

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MUNICH, Germany, July 23 (UPI) -- Officials ignored notices in 1972 that a terrorist attack could occur at the Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes died, newly revealed documents say.

Previously classified information indicates officials ignored warnings, and it disclosed efforts to cover up their failure to stop the deaths of the athletes, who were killed Sep. 5, 1972, by Palestinian terrorists, the German magazine Der Spiegel said Monday.

Five of the eight terrorists, from the Palestinian Liberation Organization, were killed in the failed rescue attempt of the hostages by German police, at a military airport, where the hostages were being held in two helicopters.

Warnings of an attack were heard by German diplomats as early as Aug. 14, 1972, and ignored by security agencies, the magazine said, noting that an Italian publication warned on Sep. 2 that terrorists were planning a "sensational act during the Olympic Games," and that only two days after the attack was the warning put on record through a tip-off by the Hamburg, Germany, police department.