Suspect in 1982 Paris Jewish restaurant assault extradited to France

[ad_1] A person accused of coordinating a 1982 assault on a Jewish restaurant in Paris that killed six folks arrived in France Thursday after being extradited by the Palestinian Authority.

Hicham Harb, certainly one of 4 suspects sought in reference to the August 9, 1982 assault, was detained on arrival at an air base close to the capital and will probably be formally notified of the warrant in opposition to him on Friday, the nationwide anti-terrorist prosecution workplace stated in an announcement.

The assault rocked the French capital's traditionally Jewish Marais neighbourhood 44 years in the past, when a gaggle of three to 5 males hurled a grenade contained in the Jo Goldenberg restaurant, then opened fireplace on prospects, killing six folks and wounding 22 others.

Harb, also referred to as Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra – now aged 72 – was arrested by Palestinian authorities in September 2025, days earlier than French President Emmanuel Macron formally recognised a Palestinian state.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas stated later that yr that Harb can be extradited, telling newspaper Le Figaro that France's determination to grant recognition had created “an acceptable framework for this French request”.

Learn extra France’s controversial ‘anti-Semitism’ legislation withdrawn forward of debate

Following the extradition, Macron’s workplace thanked the Palestinian authorities in an announcement for “their cooperation, their dedication to combating terrorism, as president Abbas promised”.

The greater than 4 many years elapsed for the reason that assault “is just too lengthy”, stated a lawyer for victims’ households, David Pere, calling for the trial to be held as shortly as attainable.

The assault was attributed to the Fatah-Revolutionary Council (Fatah-RC) led by Abu Nidal, a Palestinian splinter group that broke away from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Harb is believed to have been one of many coordinators of the assault.

In February, France’s Court docket of Cassation, the nation’s highest court docket, confirmed {that a} trial can be held over the 1982 assault in opposition to two different Palestinians held in France, certainly one of whom has Norwegian citizenship.

Harb can also be the topic of a 1988 German arrest warrant in reference to an assault at Frankfurt airport in 1985, and has been suspected by Italian investigators over an assault on a synagogue in Rome in 1982 during which a two-year-old was killed.