France, July 18 -- A French appeals court on Thursday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killing of two diplomats.

Abdallah, aged 74, is one of the longest-serving inmates in the French penal system, where the majority of life-sentenced prisoners are typically released after serving fewer than 30 years.

He has been eligible for release for a quarter of a century, yet the United States - recognised as a civil party in the case-has persistently objected to his release.

Abdallah was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for his role in the assassinations of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yaco...