Jordanian among three wanted in France for 1982 attack

AMMAN — A French court has issued arrest warrants for three men, including a Jordanian, suspected of carrying out an attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris in 1982 that killed six people and injured 21, agencies reported Wednesday.

The three men are living in Oslo, Ramallah and Jordan, and were identified as by Reuters as Walid Abdulrahman, 56, Mahmoud Khader Abed, 60, and Mohammed Souhair Al Abassi, 64. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sabah Al Rafie told The Jordan Times that the government is following the matter closely.

“We are following up on the case and there is no further information at this time,” Rafie said.

Investigating magistrate Marc Trevidic issued arrest warrants on February 20 against the three suspects, who are reportedly former members of the Abu Nidal Organisation, a splinter group of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, a source told Reuters, confirming earlier reports by RTL radio and Paris Match magazine.

The source said the suspects were identified 32 years after the attacks thanks to statements from other former members of the Abu Nidal group using a French judicial process that maintained their anonymity.

Abassi is suspected of having helped with logistics for the attack, in which gunmen threw a grenade and burst into the restaurant, opening fire with machine guns.