Khaberni - The Palestinian Authority, today, Thursday, extradited the Palestinian Mahmoud Al-Adra, known as Hisham Harb, to the French authorities, following his accusation of carrying out an attack in Paris about 43 years ago.
France accuses Harb, along with other Palestinians, of being involved in an armed attack in 1982 that targeted a restaurant in the Jewish quarter of central Paris, killing 6 people and injuring 22. Since 2015, France has been demanding his extradition for trial under an international arrest warrant.
Lawyer Ammar Dweik from the Independent Commission for Human Rights said: "Hisham Harb's family contacted me today and informed me that the Palestinian Authority has handed him over to the French authorities."
In turn, Bilal Al-Adra (son of Hisham Harb) said that his father called him this Thursday morning from a private number and was crying. He said to him, "Now they want to extradite me to the French authorities, take care of yourselves, I love you very much."
Al Jazeera correspondent in Ramallah, Jivara Al-Budeiri, reported this afternoon that the family confirmed to her that the police had informed them that Harb was transferred to Jordan in preparation for his extradition to France. He had been detained three days ago in a prison in Yatta, in the far south of Hebron, in the southern West Bank.
The Palestinian police in Ramallah summoned Bilal Al-Adra this afternoon and informed him officially of his father's extradition.
According to the son, a session was supposed to be held on Thursday in a court in Ramallah to consider his father's case, and he pointed out that a Palestinian administrative court "rejected yesterday, Wednesday, his lawyer's request for an urgent decision against the extradition without giving reasons."
Concerns about the consequences of extradition
Adra said the family fears for the fate of his father due to "the dangerous nature of the extradition, which is considered illegal, and therefore there are no guarantees for a fair trial."
The Harb family also fears for him due to his suffering from several illnesses including cancer and neurological diseases.
In November 2015, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised to extradite Harb, especially after "France's recognition of the state of Palestine provided a suitable framework for this French request."
However, lawyer Dweik emphasized that the extradition represents "a serious violation of the Palestinian Basic Law and a dangerous precedent."
On November 12, 2015, thirteen Palestinian civil and human rights organizations issued a joint statement considering any action that leads to the extradition of a Palestinian citizen to a foreign entity as a blatant violation of the Palestinian Basic Law.
Who is Hisham Harb?
A retired Palestinian colonel, 72 years old, belonged to the Fatah-Revolutionary Council organization, which was established in 1974, a splinter organization from the Palestinian Fatah movement, active strongly in the seventies and eighties of the last century, and carried out a series of attacks worldwide including assassination operations and hijacking of airplanes, and attacks against Israeli targets.
Harb initially began as a firearms trainer in the organization's training camps in Syria, then became a member of the Central Committee and head of the armament department in Europe and Asia, after his success in assassinating one of the defectors from the organization in Madrid.
Later, he abandoned armed activity, and moved between several Arab countries, before deciding to return to Gaza with Yasser Arafat in July 1994 following the settlement of his situation like hundreds of elements within the procedures that followed the Oslo Accords signed on September 13, 1993.
After moving to live in the West Bank with his family, Harb joined the General Intelligence Service in Ramallah until he retired from it as a colonel.
The Palestinian Authority detained Harb on September 19, just days before France officially recognized the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22.
At that time, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the "excellent cooperation" with the Palestinian Authority and affirmed that Paris was working with Ramallah for a quick extradition of the suspect.
Warrants have been issued for a long time against the other four suspects, who are Hisham Harb, Nizar Tawfiq Hamada, Amjad Ata, and Nabil Osman, who are located outside of France.
