TERRORISMDOJ Charges High-Ranking Hezbollah Member for 1994 Bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Samuel Salman El Reda Participated in terrorist operations for Hezbollah in South America, Asia and Lebanon, and helped plan and execute Hezbollah’s July 18, 1994, bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people.
A Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, 20 December, unsealed terrorism charges against Samuel Salman El Reda, aka Samuel Salman El Reda El Reda, Salman Raouf Salman, Sulayman Rammal, Salman Ramal, Salman Raouf Salman, and Hajj, 58, a dual Colombian-Lebanese citizen and member of Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), in connection with El Reda’s alleged role leading decades of terrorist activity on behalf of Hezbollah and the IJO.
El Reda is charged with, among other offenses, conspiring to provide and providing material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization. El Reda is based in Lebanon and remains at large.
“Nearly three decades ago, long-time Hezbollah terrorist operative Samuel Salman El Reda allegedly helped plan and execute the heinous attack on a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that murdered 85 innocent people and injured countless others,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “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.”
“As alleged, for decades, Samuel Salman El Reda has led terrorist operations on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Organization of Hezbollah, including a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires that massacred 85 innocent victims,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “The career prosecutors of this office have not forgotten the pain and suffering that El Reda has allegedly caused, and we thank the dedication of our law enforcement partners for pursuing this important case. The Southern District of New York continues to be a leader in prosecuting violent terrorists and terrorist organizations, and we will not rest until those who create chaos and destruction are brought to justice.”
“While it’s been nearly 30 years since this horrific terrorist attack, the FBI and our partners throughout the U.S. government are committed to delivering justice for the victims’ families,” said Executive Assistant Director Larissa L. Knapp of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “Our reach and our memory are long, as this investigation shows. The charges unsealed today are a result of the hard work and determination of the men and women of the FBI and Justice Department, and the assistance of our international partners in law enforcement.”
