George Abdallah’s supporters temporarily halt sit-ins

                 
The international campaign for the release of George Ibrahim Abdallah announced that it will be temporarily suspending its protests and removing the tent which had been erected before the French embassy in Beirut in order to grant cabinet the chance to form a ministerial committee tasked with following up the case with French authorities.               

The campaigner announced that the next rally will be held on February 28th in time for the next hearing of Abdallah’s case.                   

The French judiciary decided Thursday the 10th of January to release Lebanese national George Ibrahim Abdallah "provided that he be deported", AFP reported, however the decision was deferred for no explained reason.                  

Abdallah was jailed 28 years ago for attacks on U.S. and Israeli diplomats in France.                

The General prosecution has previously appealed the decision of his release. Abdallah had been in prison for over 28 years, even though French law limits the maximum sentence of any prisoner to 18.              

He was accused of engaging in commando operations carried out by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions; the court was not able to present concrete evidence against him in this regard so far.               

He was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison three years later for his alleged involvement in the 1982 murders of U.S. military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.