On 22 April 1982, a powerful

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

detonated on Rue Marbeuf in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ("the eighth"). The arrondissement, ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during the morning rush hour. It killed a young woman and injured 60 other people. The offices of the Lebanese newspaper Al-Watan al-Arabi appeared to be the target.

Background

Relations between France and Syria were generally excellent until the assassination of the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Louis Delamare, on 4 September 1981. Delamare was shot in

West Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

nearby a

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

roadblock during the

Syrian occupation of Lebanon The Syrian occupation of Lebanon ( ar, الاحتلال السوري للبنان, french: Occupation syrienne du Liban) began in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War, and ended on 30 April 2005 after the Cedar Revolution and several demonstrati ...

. An investigation from the ''Al-Watan Al-Arabi'' newspaper, which is anti-Syrian, found that Lebanese Shi'ites acting on behalf of the Syrian special services were responsible. This account was soon spread throughout the French press. In March a high speed Le Capitole train in France was bombed, killing five people. On 4 April 1982, Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov was assassinated in Paris, apparently the work of the

Palestine Liberation Organisation The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...

(PLO) or the

Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions The Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions – LARF ( ar, الفصائل المسلحة الثورية اللبنانية , ''Al Fasael al-Musallaha al-Thawriyya al-Lubnaniyya'') or Fractions armées révolutionnaires libanaises (FARL) in French ...

(LARF).

Motives

The bombing was also speculated to be linked to two comrades of Venezuelan international terrorist

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal ( es, link=no, Carlos el Chacal) or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convicted of terrorist crimes, and currently serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murder ...

, also known as "Carlos the Jackal" -

Bruno Bréguet Bruno Bréguet (born 29 May 1950 in Muralto, Ticino, Switzerland) was the first European arrested and condemned for pro-Palestinian militant activities.Entry for Bréguet in the "Biographies of film's participants", Terror's Advocate, a film by B ...

and

Magdalena Kopp Magdalena Cäcilia Kopp (2 April 1948 – 15 June 2015) was a photographer and member of the Frankfurt Revolutionary Cells (RZ). She was known for being the wife and accomplice of political militant Ilich Ramírez Sánchez also known as "Carlos ...

- who were both facing trial that day after being arrested on 16 February in Paris. The ''Al-Watan Al-Arabi'' reportedly annoyed Syrian President Hafez el-Assad. Carlos, Bréguet and Kopp had already been granted asylum in Syria. It is thought Bréguet and Kopp were already attempting to bomb the offices that day as 5 kg of nitropenta explosives were found in their car when they were arrested. According to French prosecutors in 2011, Carlos masterminded the attacks partly to force the authorities to free Bréguet and Kopp.

Aftermath

After the bombing, the French government expelled two Syrian diplomats and recalled its ambassador from

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

for consultation. Interior Minister

Gaston Defferre Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956� ...

stopped short however from blaming the Syrian government on the bombing. The Syrian Foreign Minister

Abdul Halim Khaddam Abdul Halim Khaddam ( ; ar, عبد الحليم خدام; 15 September 1932 – 31 March 2020) was a Syrian politician who was Vice President of Syria and "High Commissioner" to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was long known as a loyalist of Hafez ...

's visit to France scheduled that night was cancelled. Syria denied any link with the bombing and responded by ordering out two French diplomats and recalling its envoy from Paris. On 25 May 1982, a car bomb inside the French Embassy in Beirut killed 11 people. Bréguet and Kopp were charged in court, but were given lighter sentences following threatening letters from Carlos to French authorities. They were later paroled in 1985. In 2011, Carlos was tried for involvement in the attack. He denied any connections with the attack, including the

Capitole train bombing The Capitole train bombing was the bombing of a Le Capitole train on the Paris-Toulouse express near Limoges on 28 March 1982. The attack killed five people and injured 28 others. The bombing was claimed by a group calling itself "International ...

in March and other attacks in 1983. He was convicted in December 2011 and sentenced to life in prison on top of his existing sentences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris car bombing Improvised explosive device bombings in 1982 1982 in Paris Improvised explosive device bombings in France April 1982 events in Europe Terrorist incidents in Paris France–Syria relations 1982 murders in France Terrorist incidents in France in 1982

Background

Motives

Aftermath

See also

References