U.S. charges Hezbollah operative who allegedly planned 1994 Argentina bombing that killed 85
Washington — The Justice Department announced terrorism charges on Wednesday against an operative with the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah who allegedly helped plan the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina.
Samuel Salman El Reda, 58, allegedly coordinated the terrorist organization's activities in South America, Asia and Lebanon beginning in 1993, including the July 18, 1994, bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured hundreds, according to federal prosecutors in New York.
The indictment alleges El Reda, a dual Colombian-Lebanese citizen, relayed information to Hezbollah operatives the day the bombing was carried out. In the years since, he has allegedly helped recruit, train and manage operatives around the world.
Between 2007 and 2015, El Reda deployed operatives to Thailand, Peru, Panama and other places "to conduct pre-operational surveillance in support of attack planning and to assist in stockpiling explosive precursor chemicals such as ammonium nitrate," the indictment said.
He is charged with providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, aiding and abetting the receipt of military-type training from a designated foreign terrorist organization, and conspiring to receive military-type training from a designated foreign terrorist organization.
El Reda, who is based in Lebanon, remains at large.
"This indictment serves as a message to those who engage in acts of terror: that the Justice Department's memory is long, and we will not relent in our efforts to bring them to justice," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement.
The U.S. designated Hezbollah — an Iran-backed Shia Islamist militant and political group based in Lebanon — as a terrorist organization in 1997.