U.S. Jewish groups to lobby Interpol for action on AMIA bombing

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent

NEW YORK - Leading American Jewish organizations are planning a public relations campaign to urge Interpol to issue international arrest warrants for the perpetrators of a 1994 bombing attack against the Jewish community building in Buenos Aires.

A total of 85 Jews were killed when the terrorists detonated a car bomb near the AMIA building.

The identities of the attackers - five Iranians and a Lebanese - are known to the Argentine authorities, and in November 2006, the Argentine Justice Ministry officially asked Interpol to assist in apprehending the suspects and bringing them to justice.

Representatives of the Jewish organizations involved met in New York recently to discuss the initiative. The matter is considered urgent because Interpol's annual meeting is scheduled to take place on November 5 in Morocco. Representatives of 180 national police forces are expected to attend the meeting.

Argentine President Nestor Kirchner also raised the issue during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week. In his speech, Kirchner criticized Iran, saying that Tehran had failed to cooperate with Argentina's law enforcement agencies.