YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — A former member of an Armenian militant group who carried out a fatal 1983 bombing attack on Orly Airport in Paris has died.

Armenian news reports on Tuesday said Varuzhan Karapetian's death was believed to be from a heart attack.

Karapetian, a Syrian of Armenian descent, headed the French branch of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia. He confessed to paying a passenger to check a bomb-carrying bag for him onto a Turkish Airlines flight, claiming he had too much luggage himself.

The bomb exploded at the check-in counter, killing eight people.

Karapetian was sentenced to life imprisonment in France, but was released in 2001 on condition of his being deported to Armenia.