30 Years Ago: 100+ Held Hostage in District Siege

WASHINGTON - District officials marked the 30th anniversary of the end of the Hanafi Muslim hostage incident with a dedication ceremony at the Wilson Building on Monday.

On March 9, 1977, 12 gunmen -- Hanafi Muslims -- burst into D.C.'s City Hall, the B'nai B'rith International Center and the Islamic Center and took more than 100 hostages.

They shot and killed 24-year-old Maurice Williams, an intern at WHUR. They also shot security guard Mack Cantrell, who died a few days later in the hospital.

On Monday, city officials and journalists unveiled two plaques recounting the events, and renamed the building's fifth-floor press room in honor of Williams.

WTOP's Mark Segraves spearheaded the dedication, which moved Williams' mother, Lillie Bertha, to tears.

"He would never be sad. 'Don't be sad...don't be sad mom.' He was happy and he loved life," she said.

The gunmen injured several dozen others as they took 149 hostages.

Then-D.C. council member Marion Barry was shot in the chest. Barry was taken out a window and rushed to a hospital. Doctors said he had avoided death by inches.

The gunmen held the hostages for 39 hours as their leader, Hamass Abdul Kalis, demanded revenge for the murder of his family.

"It looked like a war zone," WUSA-TV's Bruce Johnson said of the incident.

An international coalition of negotiators worked to end the siege. It began on a Wednesday morning and didn't end until early Friday morning.

In the end, the gunmen surrendered their guns and swords and released the hostages.

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)