Paris subway bombers jailed for life

A French court convicted and sentenced two Islamic militants to life in prison yesterday for their roles in a series of Paris subway bombings in 1995 that killed eight people and wounded more than 200.

Boualem Bensaid and Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, members of the Armed Islamic Group, an Algerian insurgency movement known by its French acronym GIA, had already been serving time on separate charges.

The month-long trial of the Algerians, who are both 34, revived memories of a campaign of violence that terrorised the French capital in 1995 and left many people afraid to use public transport. As the verdict was read out, Bensaid shouted "God is great!"

Marc Apaix, who lost his mother in the attack on St Michel station on the Left Bank, said the verdict was a relief. "Justice has been served," he said. "It's a recognition of our physical and psychological wounds."

The seven-judge panel ruled that Bensaid was responsible for an attack on 6 October 1995 at the Maison Blanche subway stop, which injured 18 people, and convicted him of attempted murder. It also convicted him of involvement in a plot to attack the Musée d'Orsay station.

Bensaid had been accused of placing the bomb that exploded on a train at St Michel on 25 July 1995, killing eight and injuring about 150. But the court convicted him of being an accomplice in that attack, the only deadly bombing. It also ruled that he could not be eligible for parole for 22 years.

Belkacem, an alleged bomb expert, was accused of being behind the Musée d'Orsay attack, which injured 27 people, and was convicted of attempted murder. He will probably be a candidate for parole in 15 to 20 years. A third man, Rachid Ramda, 33, was arrested in Britain in 1997. He was to have gone on trial as the group's alleged banker, but Britain has refused to extradite him and judges in Paris were expected to try him in absentia.

GIA claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying it was punishing France for supporting Algeria's military-backed government in its war on Islamic insurgents.

Bensaid and Belkacem had already been convicted for criminal association with a terrorist organisation and Bensaid had been jailed for 30 years for a failed 1995 attack on a TGV high-speed train and a shootout with police. (AP)