Suspect in 1982 Paris attack loses extradition appeal in Norway

The legal conditions for extraditing a suspect linked to a 1982 attack in France, in which six people were killed, have been met, a Norway appellate court found Friday.

Walid Abdulrahman Abu Zayed, a 61-year-old Palestinian who became a Norwegian citizen in 1997, is wanted by French authorities on suspicion of being one of the shooters in the attack on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in Paris's Marais district, a historically Jewish quarter.

The attack on August 9, 1982, which left six people dead and 22 injured, was blamed on the Abu Nidal Organisation, a splinter group of the militant Palestinian Fatah group.

Abu Zayed, who has lived in Norway since 1991, has maintained his innocence.

Last week a Norwegian district court found that an extradition was possible under Norwegian law.

The appellate court's ruling to uphold that decision can be appealed to the Norwegian Supreme Court, and the government makes the ultimate decision on whether to extradite him to France, after the judicial process has been completed.

France has requested Abu Zayed's extradition before, but Norway has had a policy of not extraditing its nationals.

However, a recently implemented deal between the European Union, Norway and Iceland has paved the way for extradition.