ARGENTINA-AMIA/ANNIVERSARY Argentina commemorates 21 years since deadly attack on Jewish community centre

Record ID: 146752

  • Title: ARGENTINA-AMIA/ANNIVERSARY Argentina commemorates 21 years since deadly attack on Jewish community centre
  • Date: 17th July 2015
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JULY 17, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OFFICIAL ACT TO COMMEMORATE 21ST ANNIVERSARY SINCE 1994 ATTACK ON AMIA JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE IN BUENOS AIRES WITH SIREN SOUNDING TO MARK TIME IN WHICH ATTACK OCCURRED (9.53 A.M. LOCAL TIME) AMIA DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN ARGENTINA, ARIEL COHEN SABBAN, SPEAKING WITH VICTIM
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8CW2JUWRSDJSHTZQQ7UJ11M78
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Argentines commemorated the 21st anniversary since a bomb ripped through a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people.
    Investigations into the attack in which an explosives-laden truck exploded outside the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building have advanced little in the past twenty-one years. No suspect has ever been detained or taken to court.
    The case came into the spotlight again earlier this year when the lead prosecutor investigating the deadly 1994 bombing was found dead in his apartment, just days before he was due to present his accusation that President Cristina Fernandez had tried to cover up Iran's alleged role in the attack.
    Iran has consistently denied any involvement in the bombing and a judge has since cleared the president of Nisman's cover-up accusation.
    An investigation is still underway to determine Nisman's mysterious death, with the government suggesting that rogue spies played a role.
    Ariel Cohen Sabban, AMIA director and president of the Federation of Jewish communities in Argentina, said that Nisman's suspicious death added to the state's obligation to find out who was resposible for the 1994 attack.
    "The suspicious circumstances surrounding prosecutor Nisman's death [Alberto Nisman] ramp up the obligation to find out exactly what happened. The health of the nation will be under threat until an act of such gravity and significance is clarified," he said.
    Mario Averbauch, who lost his daughter Yanina in the blast, slammed the Argentine government for its attempt to create a Memoradum of Understanding with Iran.
    "Argentina must find solidarity from other countries to put pressure on Iran and it hasn't done this. Instead of partnering with countries that fight terrorism, it partners with those that practice it [terrorism]. Today we all know that this political and legal monster [in reference to the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran] didn't manage to get born and is almost dead in terms of carrying it out because the statements from the Iranians will never exist and for that reason we say to the government that it's not good for a country to keep dead things hidden. If something is dead it must be given a burial," he said.
    Last year an Argentine Federal court struck down a 2013 agreement between the South American country and Iran to investigate the bombing together - a deal that had been delayed anyway by Iranian reluctance to move forward in implementing it.
    The AMIA bombing came two years after a group linked to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires which killed 29. Tehran has denied links to either attack.
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