Lebanon, Argentina arrive at consensus over 1992 attack
Lebanese and Argentine officials recently discussed the 1992 suicide bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, with both sides arriving at the conclusion that Lebanon held no responsibility.
Diplomatic sources told Al-Monitor that Lebanese and Argentinian officials have reached a consensus of opinion over an issue that remained unresolved for 20 years, namely, the April 17, 1992, suicide car bomb attack at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. The attack left 29 people dead and 242 injured. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity, affirming that the issue had been laid to rest during the visit of a Lebanese delegation to Argentina Dec. 15-16, headed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.
The Lebanese delegation insisted on bringing up the attack in an attempt to be transparent and to bring an end to two-decade-old media rumors. At the time of the attack, some media outlets reported on Israeli information accusing Hezbollah of carrying out the attack and demanding that measures be taken against Lebanon to induce cooperation in the investigation of the crime. This, officials from the delegation told Al-Monitor, was all the while knowing that Lebanese authorities had cooperated from the beginning.
The Lebanese were surprised by the level of positiveness and realism the Argentine officials showed in addressing the issue. The Argentines were said to have affirmed, “Argentina is fully aware that Lebanon has nothing to do with the issue. The crime has no impact whatsoever on relations between both countries.”
The Argentine officials were keen to express their point of view on this issue, explaining that they had “[strove] for 20 years to reveal the identity of the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” cooperating with all parties to realize this goal. They acknowledged that “earlier, investigations revealed the identity of six suspects,” but they could not arrest any of them. They were surprised that external cooperation in investigations did not include efforts to locate the six suspects. The Argentines insinuated that Western and Israeli pressure demanding the truth was not reflected in effective cooperation at the level of information and international judicial and security bodies to determine where the suspects were and to detain them.
