Norway ‘unlikely’ to arrest 1982 Paris attack suspect

Norway is unlikely to extradite a citizen suspected of links to a 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris after France issues an arrest warrant for him.

Walid Abdulrahman Abu Zayed, alias “Souhail Othman”, who has lived Norway since 1991, is one of three suspects on a French international warrant issued two weeks ago.

But his wife angrily denies the charges against him, and an official with the Norwegian Prosecuting Authority says that as he is now a citizen, he cannot be extradited.

“There is no legal basis in Norway for expelling a Norwegian citizen to France or any other country,” the official says, adding that Norway is unlikely to arrest the suspect because a 2013 law exempting “serious acts of terrorism” from a 25-year statute of limitations cannot be applied retroactively.

France on February 20 issued international arrest warrants for three men suspected of involvement in the grenade and shooting attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris that killed six people. The attack was blamed on the Abu Nidal Organization, which was seen in the 1970s and 1980s as one of the most violent Palestinian terror groups.

Abu Zayed’s wife tells AFP that the allegation against her husband, who lives in the small town of Skien south of Oslo, is a case of “mistaken identity”.

“My husband has never killed anybody. He has never been to France,” says the woman, who did not give her full name. Paris remains on high alert after the jihadist attacks in January against a Jewish supermarket and the Charlie Hebdo magazine that left 17 people dead.

— AFP