---
title: "Panama prosecutor seeks extra year to pursue 1994 Alas Chiricanas bombing case"
date: 2026-05-14
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/alas-chiricanas-bombing-case-extension/
categories:
  - "Crime"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "Alas Chiricanas"
  - "Ali Zaki Hage Jalil"
  - "extradition"
  - "Hizbulá"
  - "Panama bombing"
  - "Panama justice"
---

# Panama prosecutor seeks extra year to pursue 1994 Alas Chiricanas bombing case

## What Happened

Panama’s Superior Prosecutor’s Office for Liquidation has asked that the investigation into the 1994 Alas Chiricanas bombing be declared a complex case, a move that would extend the inquiry by one additional year. The case concerns the explosion of a Panamanian commercial aircraft in July 1994 that left 21 people dead and has been linked to the Lebanese Shiite organization Hizbulá.

The request was filed by prosecutor Geomara Guerra and formally notified through Edict No. 57, posted at the Superior Court for the Liquidation of Criminal Cases. The measure applies to the investigation of Ali Zaki Hage Jalil, Mohhmound Moutan Mohammad and Mahamad Taha Moutan, who remain under scrutiny in connection with the attack.

## Background to the Investigation

Panamanian authorities have also maintained charges against Mohmoud Moutan Mohammad, Mahamad Taha Moutan and Gilberto Tomás Yangüez for their alleged role in the events that led to the aircraft explosion. The case was provisionally dismissed by the Second Superior Court on Nov. 19, 2006, but prosecutors sought to reopen it in 2019.

Israeli authorities later provided Panama with information about the alleged link between Ali Zaki Hage Jalil and the bombing, including data indicating that he had left the country. That information helped keep the investigation active and contributed to renewed efforts to move the case forward.

## Ali Zaki Hage Jalil’s Return to Panama

Ali Zaki Hage Jalil arrived in Panama on April 20 after Venezuelan authorities agreed to his extradition so he could face trial over the bombing. He had been detained on Margarita Island in Venezuela, where he had been hiding before being located through intelligence work involving the FBI.

Panamanian authorities link him to Hizbulá and maintain that the attack was aimed at members of the Jewish community who were traveling on the aircraft. U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera has said Zaki could also face justice in the United States, given that some of the victims were U.S. citizens.

## Why the Case Matters

The new request underscores how long the Alas Chiricanas case has remained open in Panama’s judicial system. More than three decades after the bombing, prosecutors are still pursuing procedural steps that could determine whether the case advances toward a new phase of proceedings.

Defense lawyers argue that the matter is time-barred after 32 years and say the maximum penalty under the Penal Code in force at the time was 20 years in prison. They also contend that there is no direct evidence linking their client to the bombing.