French Court Backs Release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

A French court on Thursday ruled that imprisoned pro-Palestinian militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah can be released on condition he is expelled from French territory.

The 61-year-old Lebanese national who has spent 28 years in jail and is a former guerrilla in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was granted parole in November on condition of his expulsion but was not released pending a decision on an appeal by prosecutors.

The court in Paris confirmed the parole decision and the interior ministry has until January 14 to issue an expulsion order.

Abdallah was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison three years later for his involvement in the 1982 murders of U.S. military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.

Abdallah had been eligible for parole from 1999 onwards but failed in seven previous bids to be released.

U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin had criticized the decision to grant him parole, arguing that Abdallah had never expressed remorse and could yet be a threat if released.

Abdallah's lawyer welcomed the ruling and said he hoped the government would not give in to U.S. pressure by refusing to expel him.

"I hope that we have an independent enough government to expel him," said the lawyer, Jacques Verges.

"I welcome this ruling as I had asked the French courts not to act like a whore for the American pimp," said Verges, who has repeatedly blamed U.S. influence for France's refusal to set Abdallah free.

He said Abdallah was in "good mental and physical health" and was hoping to return to Lebanon where his family runs a school where he could work.

After the initial parole ruling in November, dozens of protesters gathered outside the French embassy in Beirut demanding Abdallah's release.

During a visit to France last year, Prime Minister Najib Miqati also called for Abdallah to be freed, calling him a "political prisoner".