The Panamanian Jewish community and international law-enforcement officials now believe that last month’s bombing of a Panamanian commuter plane, in which 21 people were killed, 12 of them Jewish, was in fact part of a wave of terrorist attacks targeting Jews around the world.
Earlier theories about the explosion linked the attack to the allegedly shady dealings of one of the Jewish passengers on board, Saul Schwartz.
Schwartz reportedly was under investigation by Italian authorities for links to the Colombian-based Medellin cocaine cartel.
Last year, Schwartz, a gold dealer, was kidnapped and later released, according to sources familiar with the Panamanian community. The kidnapping was believed to be tied to the drug cartel, community sources said.
But “the Jewish community (of Panama) has largely been discounting the initial reports of some possible ties to a Colombian cartel because of the 12 Jews on the plane, including the three Israelis,” said Warren Eisenberg, director of the International Council of B’nai B’rith.
Eisenberg, who has been in touch with the Panamanian branch of B’nai B’rith, noted that Schwartz had not been expected to be on that plane, which was en route from Colon, a commercial free-trade center, to Panama City. The route is one commonly taken by Jewish business executives. The other 11 Jewish passengers were daily commuters on that particular flight, said Eisenberg.
Israel Radio reported Monday that Panamanian authorities had detained one Lebanese and two Iranians for suspected involvement in the July 19 downing of the plane. However, they were released Tuesday for lack of evidence tying them to the bombing.
Among the other indications pointing to the involvement of Islamic terrorists, said Eisenberg, was the discovery of a body in the wreckage believed to be of Middle Eastern origin that was covered with more explosive material than any other body on the plane.
Eisenberg was among a number of Jewish leaders who attended meetings last week in Washington at the Organization of American States and Monday at the House of Representatives on terrorist attacks in Latin America and Britain.
The Panamanian ambassador to the United States, Lawrence Chewling Fabrega, “condemned the bombing” of the plane “and spoke of the loss of life, particularly the number of Jewish casualties,” said Eisenberg.
The Panamanian explosion is “now being mentioned as part of a package of terrorist attacks that occurred in the last two weeks,” Eisenberg said. He referred to the attacks on Jewish targets in Buenos Aires, in which about 100 people were killed, and London, in which about 18 people were injured.
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