A court in Norway on Thursday ruled that a suspect linked to a 1982 attack in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris will be kept in detention for four weeks, pending a decision on his extradition to France, AFP reports.
Walid Abdulrahman Abu Zayed, who has been living in Norway since 1991 and became a citizen in 1997, was remanded in custody by an Oslo court after he was arrested on Wednesday following a French extradition request.
The 61-year-old suspect of Palestinian Arab origin -- also known as Walid Osman in Norway -- denied the charges before the court.
"I think it's wrong to arrest me because I'm innocent," he said through an interpreter.
"I do not accept the extradition because I do not trust the French government," he added.
The court ruling was immediately appealed.
On August 9, 1982, a group of three men threw a grenade into the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in a historically Jewish quarter of Paris, then opened fire inside the establishment and on passers-by.
The attack left six people dead and 22 injured. It has been attributed to the Abu Nidal Organization.
France asked Norway to extradite Abu Zayed in 2015, suspecting him of being one of the shooters based on the testimony of a former leader of the Abu Nidal group and that of a former member.
Norway has previously chosen not to act on the request because it did not extradite Norwegian nationals. However, a new agreement between the EU, Norway and Iceland that entered into force last year makes the extradition a possibility.
According to this agreement, a decision on extradition must be taken no later than 45 days after an arrest.
The Abu Nidal Organization, officially known as the Fatah-Revolutionary Council, was considered one of the most ruthless of the Palestinian Arab terrorist groups.