French authorities have detained 72-year-old Hicham Harb (real name Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra), considered a key suspect in a grenade and gun attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris in 1982 that killed six people. Harb was extradited by the Palestinian National Authority on Thursday in response to a request last September by France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) and placed in detention upon arrival at the Villacoublay air force base near Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron thanked the Palestinian Authority, calling it "a concrete demonstration" of judicial cooperation following France's recognition of a Palestinian state in September 2025, but this statement does not address concerns over the legality of the extradition and guarantees of a fair trial. Harb's son Bilal al-Adra said the family considers the extradition illegal and lacking assurance of a fair judicial process.

The attack occurred at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in the historically Jewish Marais quarter, where a grenade was initially thrown, followed by at least three men firing machine guns, resulting in six deaths and over 20 injuries. No one has ever been convicted for the killings, but France's highest judicial court, the Court of Cassation, ordered a trial last year for six suspects, three of whom are in absentia and living in the West Bank, Jordan, and Kuwait.

The Rue des Rosiers attack was blamed on a Palestinian splinter group founded by notorious militant Abu Nidal, whose organization, which broke away from the PLO, was responsible for a string of deadly attacks claiming 900 lives, mostly in the 1980s. Paris courts have rejected an appeal to have the case heard by a jury, opting for a special court. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who met with victims' families last year, promised to do everything to bring the suspects to trial, stating, "Faced with anti-Semitism and terrorism, France never forgets and never gives up."

Source: www.bbc.com