BEIRUT: A French court agreed to the release of Lebanese George Abdallah, who has been imprisoned in the country for 28 years, on condition that he leaves France, TFI News reported Thursday.
The report quoted French judicial sources as saying that the 61-year-old Lebanese man was granted parole on condition that he is expelled from France.
Abdallah was captured in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for the murder of American Lieutenant Col. Charles Ray and the killing of an Israeli diplomat, Yacov Barsimentov, in Paris. Abdallah has been eligible for parole since 1999.
The French court granted Abdallah parole in November of last year but an appeal by the state prosecutor kept him behind bars.