Lebanese Revolutionary May Be Released From French Prison

George Ibrahim Abdallah, is seeking a conditional release Wednesday after spending 31 years in a French prison for his role in Lebanese and Palestinian revolutionart organizations. 

The 63 year-old, Lebanese national was condemned to life imprisonment in 1986 by a French court in the murder of a U.S. and an Israeli diplomat in 1982.  

Although legally eligible for release since 1999, none of his previous nine attempts were successful because of U.S. diplomatic pressure.

Abdallah became part of the Popular Front of Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), before founding the Revolutionary Lebanese Armed Fractions (FARL) in 1980. The FARL fought the Israel occupation in the South of Lebanon that had started in 1982 and led to over 20,000 civil victims.

Abdallah was arrested in October 1984 after walking into a police station of Lyon, in the south east of France, to ask for protection from the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service.

The release of the activist has since become a national cause in his native Lebanon. During his official visit in Paris last February 2012, Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati asked the French government to release Abdallah, committing himself to handle the former revolutionary's repatriation.

In France, many legislators led by Noel Mamere (Green Party) along with union leaders, signed a petition requesting his release, while 300 people demonstrated on October 25 in Lannemezan, where Abdullah is being held prisoner.

Abdallah's lawyer, however, was skeptical about his chances of being released. “The intervention of the general attorney does not presume an immediate release,” he declared to AFP last month.

If denied release, Abdullah would have spent more time in prison than Nelson Mandela.

Abdallah is not the only high-profile revolutionary figure in French jails. Venezuelan national Illich Ramirez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, was also arrested in France after a long run as an active member of the PFLP. Ramirez was recently condemned by the France's Supreme court to life imprisonment.