CIA-RDP96-00788R000100270011-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100270011-1
Red Brigades Kidnap an American General in Italy
FRI 18, DEC 1981
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 - Brig. Gen.
James L. Dozier, a United States Army
'staff officer, was abducted today in
·Verona, Italy, a Pentagon spokesman
¡disclosed tonight.
. The Red Brigades, the leftist guerrilla
;group, took responsibility for the kid-
napping in a telephone call to the Italian
news agency ANSA.
The Pentagon spokesman, Col. Ron-
ald A. Duchin, said that an unknown
number of men broke into General Do-
zier's apartment at 5:30 P.M. Italian
time (11:30 A.M. New York time), tied
up his wife, Judith, and bodily carried
General Dozier away.
A phone call to the Milan office of
ANSA said: "We have kidnapped Briga-
dier General James Dozier in Verona. A
communiqué will follow."
1
! 'The general is the first American kid-
napped by the Red Brigades, although
the group has abducted several Italian
officials, including former Prime Minis-
ter Aldo Moro, who was killed in 1978.
Served in NATO Command
The Pentagon spokesman said Gen-
eral Dozier, who is 50 years old and from
Arcadia, Fla., is deputy chief of staff for
logistics and administration at the
Verona headquarters for allied land
forces in southern Europe. That com-
mand is part of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization.
quoted by The Associated Press, there from the Military Academy at West
were four assailants carrying guns, and Point in 1956 and is an armored forces
a scuffle took place during which the
general was hurt. .
The police sources said the general
had been placed inside a trunk and
loaded into a vehicle, which sped away.
Before his assignment in Italy, Gen-
eral Dozier was a student at the Defense
Language Institute, where he studied
Italian.
There have been previous terrorist at-
tacks on senior United States Army offi-
cers in Europe. In June 1979 a bomb was
placed under an automobile in which
Gen. Alexander M. Haig. Jr, then the
Supreme Commander of Allied Forces
in Europe, was riding near his head-
quarters in Belgium. Mr. Haig is Secre-
tary of State now.
General's Auto Was Ambushed
On Sept. 15 a terrorist unit in West
Germany ambushed an automobile car-
rying Gen. Frederick J. Kroesen, the
commander of United States forces in
Europe, and his wife.
In neither case were the officers seri-
ously injured. But security guards were
hurt.
A Pentagon spokesman said tonight
that generals serving in Europe had
been cautioned after the attack on Gen-
eral Kroesen to be more aware of their
person security. He declined to give de-
tails.
General Dozier, according to his
: According to police sources in Verona | records in the Pentagon, was graduated
officer. Before going to Italy, he was
successively a brigade commander, a
division chief of staff and a corps chief
of staff at Fort Hood, Tex.
Italy Orders Search
Special to The New York Times
ROME, Friday, Dec. 18 - A United
States Army spokesman said tonight
that General Dozier had been abducted
by four armed men who entered his
apartment disguised as plumbers.
The Italian news agency ANSA said
Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini had
ordered a major search.
The spokesman, Maj. Mario Gargiu-
lo, said the kidnappers had struck the
general, stunning him. They bound his!
wife with chains and plastic tape.
Major Gargiulo said the general had
put up no resistance, possibly to prevent;
harm to his wife, Judith. He quoted Mrs.
Dozier as saying the men took her hus-
band away in what appeared to be a !
steamship trunk. She was slightly in-
jured around the wrists from being
bourid.
Major Gargullo said the abduction
was discovered when Mrs. Dozier
alerted neighbors by banging on the
wall of her sixth-floor apartment.
The spokesman said the police had
found a van in Verona that they believed
was the getaway vehicle.
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100270011-1