Suspect in 1982 Paris restaurant attack arrested in West Bank
Palestinian authorities detain Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, also known as Hicham Harb, under a 2015 Interpol warrant; France seeks extradition as it moves toward recognizing a Palestinian state.
A man wanted over the 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris has been arrested by Palestinian authorities in the occupied West Bank, according to French prosecutors briefed on the matter. Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, who also goes by the name Hicham Harb, is suspected of directing the August 9, 1982 gun and grenade assault on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant on Rue des Rosiers in the Marais, an attack that killed six people and left at least 20 injured. The arrest comes as France moves toward formally recognizing a Palestinian state and as Paris seeks to advance a long-running justice process tied to the case.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said it had been informed by Interpol of Adra's arrest by Palestinian authorities under a 2015 international warrant. Adra faces charges of terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder. The prosecutor's office did not provide details about the circumstances or date of the arrest. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot attributed the development in part to President Emmanuel Macron's decision to recognize an independent Palestinian state, saying the recognition enabled an extradition request. Macron, for his part, welcomed what he described as excellent cooperation between France and the Palestinian Authority and said Paris would work to secure Adra's swift extradition.
France and a number of other countries, including Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Canada, are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state on Monday ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly — a move that Israel and many French Jewish groups have strongly opposed. Adra is suspected of leading the assault and acting as one of the gunmen who opened fire on diners inside the restaurant. To date, no one has been punished for the attack, which remains one of the most notorious anti-Semitic attacks in postwar France.
In July, French judges ordered the trial of six people, including Adra, for murder and assault in connection with the 1982 attack, to be tried in a special terrorism court established for the historic case. Another suspect, Abu Zayed, is in custody in France after being extradited from Norway, along with a second suspect. Three other suspects are still at large, believed to be hiding in Jordan and the West Bank. A trial is expected early next year, with three of the defendants expected to be present and the others to be tried in absentia. Adra is believed to have been a member of the Abu Nidal group, a dissident Palestinian faction active in the 1970s and 1980s. The group split from Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization and was blamed for a series of violent attacks around the world that killed at least 900 people.
Macron added in a post that France does not forget and will enforce justice. Yohann Taïeb, a spokesman for some of the victims, called the arrest a significant step and urged Macron to secure Adra's extradition as quickly as possible, underscoring the ongoing pursuit of accountability for the longstanding case.