JURIST - Paper Chase: Argentina prosecutor seeks arrest of ex-president in Buenos Aires bomb cover-up

[JURIST] Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman filed a petition Thursday for the arrest of former Argentine President Carlos Menem [BBC backgrounder] and five others accused of covering up the possible involvement of businessman Alberto Jacinto Kanoore Edul in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. In 2004, an Argentine judge conducted an investigation [JURIST report] into the possible connection between Swiss bank accounts allegedly held by Menem and the bombing. Argentine prosecutors have alleged that the bombing, which killed 85 and injured more than 200, was planned by Iranian officials and carried out by Hezbollah [BBC backgrounder]. AP has more.

In 2006, Argentina sought the arrests [JURIST report] of high-ranking members of the Iranian government, including former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [official website, in Farsi], in connection with the bombing, but Interpol's Executive Committee [official website] denied the request and voted to issue arrest notices [press release; JURIST report] for only five Iranians and one Lebanese man. In response, Iranian prosecutors issued court summonses [JURIST report] for five Argentinians they accused of falsely implicating an Iranian group with planning the bombing.

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