Argentina's ex-president on trial over alleged bomb cover-up

Argentina's 85-year-old former president went on trial in absentia on Thursday, accused of covering up the deadly bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires 21 years ago.

Carlos Menem, who was leader between 1989 and 1999, is charged with derailing an investigation into the country's worst terrorist attack.

In July 1994, 85 people were killed when a bomb struck the offices of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires. Hundreds more were injured when the six-story building collapsed.

A former top judge and Menem's one-time intelligence chief are among a dozen other officials also accused of obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence and other charges.

Menem, who has since become a Senator for Argentina's La Rioja province, did not attend the first day's hearing. He has denied the allegations several times.

Argentine authorities have long blamed Iran - and the militant group Hezbollah - of being behind the bombing of the building. Several Iranian officials remain on Interpol's red notice list, the international arrest warrant, despite Tehran's denial of any involvement.

Two years earlier, a suicide bomber struck at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people. A group linked to Iran and Hezbollah claimed responsibility for that attack.

During Menem's trial, prosecutors are expected to argue that a former Judge - on orders from the former President - stopped investigating the so-called "Syrian trail" which may have led to uncovering the bombers' identities.

A Syrian-born man, Alberto Kanoore Edul, had links with Menem's family, who is also of Syrian descent. Edul also had a connection to Moshen Rabbani, Iran's cultural attache in Buenos Aires, who prosecutors say masterminded the attack.

The trial will also focus on a $400,000 payment to the mechanic of the truck used to transport the explosives used in the attack. The former judge who sanctioned the payment said the cash was given to persuade the mechanic to name those who had borrowed the truck.

The scandal continues to rock the top echelons of the Argentinean establishment. Earlier this year, current president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was accused of reaching a secret deal with Tehran to cover up the alleged role of several Iranian officials. She was eventually cleared by a court in Buenos Aires.

In January, the judge who accused her was found shot dead in his apartment, hours before he was due to testify in Congress about the case. He had been investigating the bombing for 17 years.

Families of the victims remain skeptical whether Argentina's justice system will ever uncover who ordered the bombing.

74-year-old Sofia Guterman, whose daughter was killed in the blast, told the Wall Street Journal: “If after 21 years the truth comes out because of this case, it would be a miracle."

Years after standing down as president, Menem was found guilty for his part in a weapons smuggling operation to Ecuador and Croatia and was given a seven-year prison sentence. His role as senator gave him immunity from jail.

Argentina is home to a Jewish community of 200,000, the largest in Latin America.

mm/jil (AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal)