Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, with French lawyer Jacques Vergès, during his trial for complicity in the murder of two diplomats. (Credit: AFP Archives.)
A French appeals court Thursday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant George Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.
Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of U.S. military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.
The Paris Appeals Court ordered he be freed from a prison in the south of France next week, on Friday, July 25, on the condition that he leave French territory and never return.
Abdallah is one of the longest serving prisoners in France, as most convicts serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years.
The United States, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail.
In November last year, a French court ordered his release conditional on Abdallah leaving France.
But France's anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision, which was consequently suspended.
Abdallah has always insisted he is a "fighter" who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a "criminal."
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