CARACAS, Nov 28, 2009 (AFP) - Brushing off French protests, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez praised as “a revolutionary soldier” convicted terrorist Carlos Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos The Jackal.
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| Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with President Mahmud Abbas (L) at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas . AFP |
“Carlos was a soldier in the Palestine Liberation Organization and represented all of us in the fight for the liberation of the Palestinian people,” Chavez said of the fellow Venezuelan as he received Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday.
But Chavez added that he did not want to offend anybody with his remarks. Last week, the Venezuelan leader caused a stir in relations with France when he said that Carlos the Jackal was “unjustly sentenced” in France to life in prison and that French police had taken him hostage.
The French government reacted by summoning the Venezuelan ambassador in Paris and demanding explanations. But Chavez insisted Friday he was telling the truth and had no intention to offend anybody.
“Carlos was a fighter,” he pointed out. “This is a truth the size of Egyptian pyramids. Carlos Ilich Ramirez Sanchez was a revolutionary. Later, they started calling him The Jackal in order to malign him. But he is a revolutionary soldier.”
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