Venezuelan terrorist, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, known as Carlos the Jackal, is to appeal against his life sentence for killing two French secret agents and a Lebanese fellow revolutionary in 1975, his lawyer has said.

The BBC's Stephen Jessel reports from Paris

Ramirez, 48, who has been blamed for more than 80 deaths and hundreds of injuries during his pro-Palestinian struggle in the 1970s and 1980s, was found guilty of murder with aggravating circumstances.

The verdict came after an eight-day trial in which Ramirez was unable to refute evidence tying him to a shooting in Paris in 1975.

The nine-member jury deliberated for nearly four hours before finding him guilty of shooting investigators Raymond Dous, Jean Donatini and Michel Moukharbal, a Lebanese colleague of Ramirez.

A courtroom sketch of Ramirez addressing the judge and jury

Ramirez said he was not afraid of spending the rest of his life behind bars: "They want to sentence me to life in prison. I'm 48 years old, so it could be another 40 or 50 years. That doesn't horrify me."

After hearing the verdict, Ramirez smiled, shook his fist in the air four times at the audience and walked out of the courtroom, escorted by police guards.

"Viva la revoluçion," he said.

Lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre said she and Ramirez would formulate the appeal on Friday.
 

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