A Lebanese pro-Palestinian militant jailed in France over the murder of two diplomats has returned to Beirut to a fanfare from his supporters, after more than four decades behind bars.
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, 74, was released in the early hours of Friday and deported from France. His flight from Paris arrived in Beirut around 2.30pm local time.
One of the first sounds Abdallah may have heard was the intense noise of an Israeli drone hovering over the Lebanese capital, reported The National's correspondent.
Abdallah served a life sentence for complicity in the murders of the diplomats − one American and one Israeli − in Paris in 1982.
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled last week that Abdallah, who has been imprisoned in France since his arrest in 1984, could be released on the condition that he left the country and never returns.
Several hundred supporters gathered to greet the pro-Palestinian Lebanese activist, some waving Lebanese Communist Party and Syrian Social Nationalist Party flags.
Some banged on drums and held up Palestinian flags and a banner reading “Georges Abdallah is free − a Lebanese, Palestinian and international freedom fighter on the road to liberating Palestine”.
In his first public address after being released, Abdallah took aim at Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, where human rights organisations have warned of mass starvation.
“The children of Palestine are dying of hunger while millions of Arabs watch,” he said. “Resistance must continue and intensify.”
The crowd had cheered upon hearing that the aircraft carrying Abdallah had arrived.
No one from the government was present but some members of the Lebanese Parliament were including one from Hezbollah. Osama Saad, leader of the Popular Nasserist Organisation, was at arrivals, as were relatives of Abdallah.
The Lebanese Army had worked to ensure that the entrance and exit of Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport remained passable.
A reception will be held in his home village of Qoubaiyat in Akkar, north-east Lebanon.
Abdallah was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.
His role in the murders remains unclear. The weapon used to kill the diplomats was found in a hotel room that he used in Paris, but he has never admitted any connection to their deaths, Abdallah's lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset said.
The French court's ruling is “both a judicial victory and a political scandal”, Mr Chalanset said last week. He maintains that his client has spent the longest time in prison for acts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“He has a family, he has a village. He'll live with the support of his brothers,” Mr Chalanset said.
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
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