Jordan Won’t Extradite Suspect in 1982 Paris Restaurant Bombing

Image by Wikimedia
Jordan is refusing to extradite to France a man suspected of carrying out a deadly 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris.
According to Agence France Press, an unnamed Jordanian official said on Wednesday the country was rejecting France’s request to extradite Zuhair Mohamad al-Abassi,who was arrested in Jordan last June.
Al-Abassi, also known as Amjad Atta, 62, is a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin. He is the suspected mastermind of the 1982 attack on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant, in which six people were killed and 22 wounded.
Jordan reportedly rejected the request because an extradition deal between the two countries only went into effect in July, a month after al-Abassi was arrested and then released on bail.
The unnamed official told AFP that a second suspect in the attack, Nizar Tawfiq Hamada, would not be extradited because the statute of limitations on to the allegations against him have expired.
A total of six people are believed to have been involved in planning and carrying out the attack on the restaurant, in which two gunmen stormed the establishment in the middle of the day and opened fire on customers. Chez Jo Goldenberg, which was located in the heavily Jewish Marais neighborhood of Paris, closed in 2006.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
- 4
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
In Case You Missed It
-
News In Edan Alexander’s hometown in New Jersey, months of fear and anguish give way to joy and relief
-
Fast Forward What’s next for suspended student who posted ‘F— the Jews’ video? An alt-right media tour
-
Opinion Despite Netanyahu, Edan Alexander is finally free
-
Opinion A judge just released another pro-Palestinian activist. Here’s why that’s good for the Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.