By Amy Luft
Associated Press
MONTREAL — Canadian police on Thursday arrested a sociology instructor suspected in the 1980 bombing of a synagogue in Paris that killed four people and injured 20 others, officials said.
Hassan Diab, 55, was taken into custody on a provisional extradition warrant issued at the request of French authorities, Justice Department spokesman Christian Girouard said.
On Oct. 3, 1980, a bomb containing the powerful explosive pentrite hidden in the saddlebags of a parked motorcycle exploded outside the synagogue as hundreds of worshippers were gathered inside for a Sabbath service.
Three French men and one Israeli woman were killed. Around 200,000 people later marched through the streets of Paris to protest the attack.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Operations was blamed at the time. Diab’s name was on a list of former members of the Palestinian extremist group obtained by German intelligence officials.
France Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie welcomed the arrest, saying Diab was the main suspect in the attack.
Diab, a part-time sociology instructor at the University of Ottawa, said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro last month that he was a victim of mistaken identity and had nothing to do with the attack.
Diab, of Palestinian origin, has Lebanese and Canadian passports and lived in the United States for several years before moving to Canada, according to a French judicial official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with judicial policy.
In a statement, Alliot-Marie credited the “excellent cooperation” between French police and intelligence services and Canadian authorities, but did not provide further details on the suspect.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Jean Hainey said he was detained in Gatineau, Quebec - across the river from Ottawa. A court hearing was expected Friday.