'Carlos the Jackal' to be tried in '80s attacks

PARIS — The jailed Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges of masterminding deadly bombings in France a quarter of a century ago to win the release of his girlfriend and an accomplice.

Carlos, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, will face charges for four attacks in 1982 and 1983 that killed 12 people and injured at least 100. France's top anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, issued the order after a 20-year investigation.

Two Germans and a Palestinian also were ordered to stand trial. No date has been set, said a judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about investigative matters. All four suspects face up to life in prison if convicted.

Sanchez, 57, is serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informer. He gained international notoriety as the Cold War-era mastermind of bombings, killings and kidnappings, many in Western Europe.

In the 1982-83 bombings, authorities say, Ramirez was driven by a desire to win the release of two jailed radical leftists, Bruno Breguet and Magdalena Kopp, his girlfriend at the time.

(From the Associated Press).