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Carlos the Jackal convicted for 1980s French attacks | Carlos the Jackal convicted for 1980s French attacks |
(40 minutes later) | |
Self-styled revolutionary "Carlos the Jackal" has been convicted in France of organising four deadly attacks in the 1980s and sentenced to life in prison. | |
Carlos, a Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, is already serving life in a Paris prison for a triple murder in 1975. | Carlos, a Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, is already serving life in a Paris prison for a triple murder in 1975. |
He has denied any role in the bomb attacks in France in 1982 and 1983 that killed 11 people. | |
The 62-year-old was captured by French special forces in Sudan in 1994. | The 62-year-old was captured by French special forces in Sudan in 1994. |
By that time he had earned global notoriety as a mastermind of deadly bomb attacks, assassinations and hostage-takings. | |
It was the discovery of fresh evidence that led to him being tried for the bomb attacks in Paris and Marseilles that also left more than 140 people injured. | |
During his trial, Ramirez described himself as a "man of combat" and a "professional revolutionary". | |
In his five-hour closing statement on Thursday, he said: "I am a living archive. Most of the people of my level are dead." | In his five-hour closing statement on Thursday, he said: "I am a living archive. Most of the people of my level are dead." |
He also read a text in memory of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is known to have funded anti-Western attacks. | He also read a text in memory of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is known to have funded anti-Western attacks. |
Deadly bombings | |
The first bombing, in March 1982, was on a train between Paris and Toulouse, killing five people and wounding 28. It was followed a month later by the car bombing of an anti-Syrian newspaper in Paris. One passer-by was killed and 60 injured. | |
The other two bombings took place on New Year's Eve 1983, with a bomb on a TGV fast train between Marseille and Paris that killed three people and wounded 13, and a bomb at a Marseille train station that killed two. | |
Ramirez was born into a wealthy Venezuelan family, and studied in Moscow before joining the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He converted to Islam in 1975. | |
He got his nickname after a copy of Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal was found among his belongings. |
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