LONDON Ñ Argentina denied reports it has requested Interpol to
arrest Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah in connection to two bombings in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s that killed nearly 200
people.
But Argentinian officials said authorities in Buenos Aires have asked the
Interpol office in the capital for a series of clarifications regarding
Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hizbullah, and is considering a proposal requesting his arrest.
An Argentinian government spokesman said on Tuesday that a court
investigating the bombings has not asked Interpol to arrest Nasrallah, Middle East Newsline reported.
Earlier, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily reported that Argentina
had requested that Interpol arrest Nasrallah. The report said the Argentinian
request cited evidence that Hizbullah, which appears on the U.S. State
Department's list of terrorist organizations, had masterminded two bombings
in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994.
"Conclusive evidence has been found, confirming the role of Iran and
Lebanon's Hizbollah in the bombing operation," the newspaper quoted the
Argentinian request as saying.
The newspaper reported on Tuesday that Argentina submitted the request
after the visit by Argentina's intelligence chief Miguel Tohmeh to
Washington last month. The intelligence chief met with CIA officials to
discuss the Hizbullah.
Hizbullah did not respond to the A-Sharq Al Awsat report.
The reported Argentinian request to Interpol said Iran and Hizbullah
cooperated in the bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in
1994. A car bomb leveled the building that housed the offices of the Jewish
community
and 85 people were killed and 200 were injured.
[In Beirut, Lebanese officials confirmed that authorities arrested three
suspected Al Qaida agents. They said the arrests took place over the weekend
and comprised two Lebanese and a Saudi national who had planned to establish
a camp to shelter Al Qaida fighters fleeing from Afghanistan.]
The newspaper said the request to Interpol was submitted after Argentina
completed its investigation of the 1994 bombing. The Argentinian
investigation was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. intelligence agency
CIA.
The Argentinian request to Interpol asserted that Iranian agents
operating out of Buenos Aires coordinated the attack, the newspaper said.
The Iranian cultural attache in Argentina, Mohsen Rabani, was cited as
providing logistical help to Hizbullah.
Argentina said Hizbullah agents infiltrated from Brazil and Paraguay and
were helped by local agents.
On Tuesday, Hizbullah gunners resumed anti-aircraft fire toward Israeli
warplanes that were spotted near the Lebanese border. The Hizbullah shells
fell into northern Israel.
