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Two Argentine Sergeants to Be Charged in Amia Blast

April 17, 1996
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Two sergeants in the Argentine army will soon be charged in connection with the July 18, 1994, bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association, or AMIA, that left 86 dead and 300 wounded.

Sources close to the AMIA investigation confirmed that the official in charge of the probe, Judge Juan Jose Galeano, is ready to press charges against the two.

The two sergeants were arrested in December along with 10 other soldiers and civilians on charges of selling weapons and explosives on the Argentine black market.

Those arrested included extreme rightists, drug dealers and traffickers of assault weapons.

The arrests came after a widespread search of military bases in suburban Buenos Aires in which police found 75 hand grenades, 110 detonation caps, seven rocket-propelled grenades, 60 blocks of plastic explosives, handguns and more than 2 pounds of marijuana.

The 12 detainees spent the past five months in jail, but have not yet been connected to the AMIA case until now.

Galeano is also putting together a case against two Buenos Aires police officers who the judge believes may have delivered the van used in the car bombing of AMIA, according to media reports here.

In February, the Argentine government said it was creating a special police team to investigate the 1994 blast.

Earlier this week, the Argentine Supreme Court said it was ordering a full reevaluation of its investigation of another terrorist attack, the March 17, 1992, bombing of the Israeli Embassy, which left 29 dead and some 100 wounded.

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