---
title: "Panama Prosecutors Seek More Time in 1994 Alas Chiricanas Bombing Case"
date: 2023-08-13
modified: 2026-04-21
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/alas-chiricanas-bombing-investigation-prorrogation/
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "Alas Chiricanas"
  - "AMIA"
  - "bombing investigation"
  - "FBI"
  - "Hezbollah"
  - "Panama"
---

# Panama Prosecutors Seek More Time in 1994 Alas Chiricanas Bombing Case

## What Happened

Panama’s Superior Prosecution Office has asked the liquidation court for more time to continue investigating the deadly attack on Alas Chiricanas flight 901, the aircraft that went down on July 19, 1994 after an explosion. The crash killed 21 people, including the suspected attacker, and remains one of the most significant unresolved terror cases linked to Panama.

The case concerns the HP-1202AC aircraft and the deaths of passengers on board, among them citizens of Panama, Israel, the United States and Colombia. The request for an extension was made through edict 323 dated July 26, notifying the parties involved in the proceedings.

## Who Is Under Investigation

Authorities are pursuing the investigation against Mohmoud Moutan Mohammad, Mahamad Tha Moutan, Gilberto Tomás Yangüez and Ali Zaki Jalil for alleged intentional homicide and attacks against transportation means. New information received in the case has led prosecutors to seek more time to clarify Jalil’s possible role in the attack.

Jalil was listed in 2020 by the FBI as a person who may have information relevant to the bombing. He is described as a 55-year-old man with a robust build who practices skydiving.

## Why the Case Matters

The bombing has long been tied to wider regional and international terror investigations. In 2019, Panama prosecutors moved to reopen the case after then-President Juan Carlos Varela received a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that Israeli intelligence had confirmed Hezbollah was behind the attack.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite Muslim organization, is designated by the United States as an extremist group and is included on its list of terrorist organizations. The case was also discussed in 2018 during Varela’s visit to Israel.

## International Links and Memory

In 2003, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Federal Court No. 9 sent a formal request to Panamanian authorities expressing interest in collaborating on the investigation. Argentine authorities linked the Panamanian bombing to the same networks believed to have carried out the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people one day earlier.

In June, an Argentine federal judge issued Interpol arrest warrants for four Lebanese citizens believed to be living in Brazil and Paraguay in connection with the AMIA case.

Panama also marked the anniversary of the attack this year with the placement of the first stone for a memorial at Mirador Pacífico on the Cinta Costera. The monument, named Conciencia Viva and created by artist Olga Sinclair, is intended to encourage reflection on unity, peace, democracy and respect for human rights.