Suspect in 1982 Paris Jewish restaurant bombing to be extradited - report

The attack at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant was at the time the deadliest antisemitic attack in France since World War Two, and was part of a wave of violence involving Palestinian militants.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 14:09

Male hands arrested with handcuffs in Criminal concept (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE) — Male hands arrested with handcuffs in Criminal concept (illustrative)

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Following the arrest of a Palestinian terrorist by Norwegian police sought by French prosecutors on suspicion that he took part in a fatal attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris 38 years ago, the country's court has decided to extradite the suspect back to France to face charges.

The August 1982 bombing and shooting assault on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant killed six people and wounded at least 20.

Walid Abdurahman Abu Zayed, now in his 60s, will be extradited back to Paris to face his crimes and the families of the victims he stands accused of tormenting, according to Arab News and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

In 2015, arrest warrants were issued against three former members of the Abu Nidal Organization, a splinter group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a source told Reuters at the time.

One of the men lives in Norway, where he immigrated in the 1990s, but Norwegian authorities rejected the original 2015 request on grounds that, in most cases, it would not extradite its own citizens.

Zayed has previously denied any involvement in the case, according to Norwegian daily Dagbladet, which first reported his arrest. In 2015, he told Norwegian daily VG he had never been to Paris.

"I oppose the extradition because I have nothing to do with the attack," Zayed told the Norwegian court, according to Arab News.

The suspects were identified long after the attacks because of statements from other former members of the Abu Nidal group using a French judicial process that maintained their anonymity, the source said.

Norway recently adopted new pan-European regulations on arrests, leading French prosecutors to seek extradition for a second time.

A legal process in Norway will determine whether formal grounds have been met for extradition. If he is tried, any judgment will be by a French court.

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The attack at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant was at the time the deadliest antisemitic attack in France since World War Two, and was part of a wave of violence involving Palestinian militants.

"I don’t like France," Zayed said, according to Arab News. "I don’t want to be imprisoned in France."

Reuters contributed to this report.