Panamanian Authorities Arrest Suspect in 1994 Plane Attack

SadaNews - The Panamanian authorities announced the arrest of the suspect in the attack that downed a plane in Panama in 1994, which had about twenty people on board, most of whom were Jewish.

The Panama police stated in a statement that Interpol in Panama received confirmation from its counterpart in Caracas regarding the arrest of citizen Ali Zaki Hajj Jalil, a Venezuelan national suspected of involvement in the downing of a plane belonging to "Alas Chiricanas" on July 19, 1994.

The plane exploded shortly after taking off from Colón International Airport in northern Panama, carrying 21 people, including 13 Jewish businessmen, in what is considered the worst attack in the country's history.

The police clarified that the arrest of the wanted individual occurred on November 6 of this month on Margarita Island in the state of Nueva Esparta, Venezuela, noting that coordination is underway to initiate extradition procedures to Panama.

For its part, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry mentioned on Saturday that it has commenced a series of diplomatic and judicial measures to ensure the detained individual's appearance before justice in the country.

The United States had offered a reward of two million dollars in 1995 for information regarding the air attack, and Washington included the crash incident in its terrorism report, indicating the possibility that the attack was carried out by a suicide unit affiliated with "Hezbollah" in Lebanon.

For years, the Panamanian authorities have proposed two hypotheses regarding the incident: settling scores related to drug trafficking or a hostile attack against Jews.

The case gained new momentum in 2018 when then-Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela requested the reopening of investigations after receiving new information during an official visit to Israel.

According to Varela, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed him that Israeli intelligence had concluded that the downing of the plane was a "terrorist attack" believed to have been executed by "Hezbollah".

Shortly thereafter, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Panama reopened the case "to investigate suspicions of terrorism".