US charges alleged Hezbollah member over deadly 1994 AMIA bombing

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Samuel Salman El Reda, 58, had coordinated Hezbollah's activities in South America, Asia, and Lebanon since 1993.

By REUTERS
Updated: DECEMBER 20, 2023 18:41
Rescue workers search for survivors and victims in the rubble left after a powerful car bomb destroyed the Buenos Aires headquarters of the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), in this July 18, 1994 file photo (photo credit: REUTERS)
Rescue workers search for survivors and victims in the rubble left after a powerful car bomb destroyed the Buenos Aires headquarters of the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), in this July 18, 1994 file photo
(photo credit: REUTERS)

A US court on Wednesday unsealed an indictment charging an alleged senior Hezbollah operative with terrorism charges, in part for coordinating a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Samuel Salman El Reda, 58, had coordinated Hezbollah's activities in South America, Asia, and Lebanon since 1993. The Iran-backed, heavily armed Shi'ite group is part of Lebanon's coalition government.

Prosecutors said El Reda is based in Lebanon and remains at large.

A memorial to the victims of the 1994 AMIA bombing (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
A memorial to the victims of the 1994 AMIA bombing (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

US sanctioned Hezbollah operative in 2019

The US State Department in 2019 sanctioned El Reda and offered a $7 million reward for information on his whereabouts.

Argentina also blames Hezbollah for a 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people.



Related Tags
Hezbollah
Terrorism
United States
Argentina
AMIA bombing
antisemitism