Page "Munich massacre" Paragraph 18

Munich police chief Manfred Schreiber and Bruno Merk, interior minister of Bavaria, negotiated directly with the kidnappers, repeating the offer of an unlimited amount of money.

According to Cooley, the reply was that " money means nothing to us ; our lives mean nothing to us.

" Magdi Gohary and Mohammad Khadif, both Egyptian advisers to the Arab League, and A. D. Touny, an Egyptian member of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) also helped try to win concessions from the kidnappers, but to no avail.

However, the negotiators apparently were able to convince the kidnappers that their demands were being considered, as Issa granted a total of five extensions to their deadlines.

Elsewhere in the village, athletes carried on as normal, seemingly oblivious of the events unfolding nearby.

The Games continued until mounting pressure on the IOC forced a suspension some 12 hours after the first athlete had been murdered.

American marathon runner Frank Shorter, observing the unfolding events from the balcony of his nearby lodging, was quoted as saying, " Imagine those poor guys over there.

Every five minutes a psycho with a machine gun says, ' Let's kill ' em now ,' and someone else says, ' No, let's wait a while.

' How long could you stand that?