US offers US$7 million reward to find Hezbollah operative wanted for 1994 attack on Buenos Aires Jewish centre

Washington also slapped sanctions on Salman Raouf Salman as it marked the 25th anniversary of the bombing which killed 85 people

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Rescuers search through the rubble of the Buenos Aires Jewish community centre blown up on July 18, 1994. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:04am, 20 Jul 2019Updated: 10:53am, 20 Jul 2019

The United States on Friday offered a US$7 million reward to find a Hezbollah operative accused of masterminding a deadly 1994 attack on a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to unite Latin American nations against the militants.

Pompeo visited to mark the 25th anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest attack, lighting a candle at the site of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association where a plaque lists the names of the 85 dead.

“They were killed by members of a terrorist group, Hezbollah, and had help that day from Iran,” Pompeo told a remembrance ceremony, saying that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards provided “logistical support and funding”.

“We have not forgotten, and we never will,” said Pompeo, who was joined by Latin American government ministers in Buenos Aires for counterterrorism talks.

Salman Raouf Salman, accused of being one of the leaders who bombed the Jewish-Argentine organisation AMIA on July 18, 1994. Photo: Argentina’s Public Prosecutor’s Office/AFP

Washington offered US$7 million to find alleged perpetrator Salman Raouf Salman and imposed sanctions on him, in tandem with Argentina’s announcement that it was designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

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