France, Sept. 19 -- Palestinian authorities have arrested a key suspect in an antisemitic attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris which left six people dead in 1982, French prosecutors said on Friday, as France gears up to recognise a Palestinian state.

The deadliest antisemitic atrocity in France since World War II was blamed on the Palestinian militant Abu Nidal Organisation, which was categorised as a terror group by the US and Europe.

Hicham Harb, now 70, is suspected of leading the attackers in the gun assault on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in Paris's Marais district, a historically Jewish quarter. He has been the subject of an international arrest warrant for 10 years.

The surprise announcement comes as France gears up to formall...