Carlos the Jackal, the terrorist who bombed a Paris shopping arcade in 1974, has been sentenced to life in prison for the third time.

Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, 67, who has spent the last 23 years in a high security prison, today denounced "an absurd trial" for the 42-year-old crime.

The Venezuelan-born self-styled revolutionary is already serving two life sentences in France for murders and attacks he was convicted of in the 1970s and '80s.

Two men died and 34 others were severely injured in the late afternoon attack that shattered all the windows in the store.

He had denied involvement, saying there was no proof against him.

Known worldwide as Carlos, he perpetrated and organised a string of murders and attacks on behalf of the Palestinian cause or of communist revolution.

Five judges found Carlos, the only defendant, guilty of throwing a grenade onto a shopping area, killing two and injuring 32.

In 1994, he was charged with the murders of two Paris policemen and his associate-turned-informant Michel Moukharbal, He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1997.

He was later tried and found guilty for two further attacks in 1982 and '83 for bombings that killed eleven and injured more than 100 people.

After converting to Islam, Carlos married his lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre in a Muslim ceremony even though he was still married to his second wife. The union is not recognised by French law.

He has voiced support for Osama Bin Laden and his attacks on the US and has lodged a number of unsuccessful appeals against his sentences.