Argentina Pursues Lead Linking Amia Bombing to U.S. Neo-nazis

The official in charge of investigating the July 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center here is pursuing a lead that links suspects arrested in connection with the case to American neo-Nazi groups, sources close to the case said.

At least one suspect arrested in December during raids in and around a major military base outside Buenos Aires was found in possession of a sizable amount of American neo-Nazi literature, the sources said.

Police found hidden at the suspect’s residence several books, leaflets and magazines edited by a group called White Aryan Resistance, which was founded by American extremist Tom Metzger.

Sources said Judge Juan Jose Galeano, who is in charge of the case, is investigating the extent of influence that group and other American militia movements may have in Argentina.

Jewish leaders here and abroad have complained about what they describe as the slow pace of the investigation, which has to date provided no satisfactory explanation for the attack.

The bombing that destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association, or AMIA, left 86 dead and more than 300 wounded.

An earlier attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires also remains unsolved. The car bombing of the embassy in March 1992 killed 29 people and left more than 100 injured.

Making his first public statement about the case in months, Galeano apologized this week for the length of time the AMIA investigation has taken.

‘It has not been easy. We are not experts in terrorism,” he said. “People must understand that the courts are making great strides in trying to solve the AMIA bombing, and that some of the information is too sensitive to be divulged.”