By Al-Fassel | 2024-11-06

The US State Department's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on the perpetrators of the July 19, 1994 terrorist bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 (AC Flight 901) in Panama.

Hizbullah was responsible for the bombing, the United States has been appreciated.

The Iran-backed Lebanese party is considered a terrorist group by the United States and many other countries.

Its crimes include many political assassinations, including the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel of October 7, 2023, Hizbullah dragged Lebanon into a war that in the first year killed 1,928 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese government's Disaster Management Unit.

There are more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Lebanon as a result of this conflict, it said.

The party also has set up weapons and ammunition warehouses in residential areas, endangering civilians, as well as around the Beirut airport, where it reportedly takes delivery of Iranian weapons and equipment.

RFJ is seeking information that leads "to the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual who committed, attempted, or conspired to commit, or aided or abetted in the commission" of the Panama attack, an October 29 announcement said.

AC Flight 901 was traveling to Panama City when a bomb on board detonated shortly after takeoff from France Field in Colón, Panama, causing the aircraft to crash in the jungle approximately 10 miles (16km) from the airport.

All 21 passengers, including three US citizens, were killed.

The attack was claimed a few days later by a group calling itself Ansar Allah, which the US government has determined is an alias for Hizbullah.

Ali Hawa Jamal was identified as the suspect who carried the bomb aboard. It is believed the bomb was concealed in a radio.

Jamal, who died in the bombing, was the only person aboard whose body was never claimed.

The FBI has said it suspects Jamal belonged to the same Hizbullah group that, one day earlier, had detonated a car-bomb that killed 85 people and injured around 300 at the headquarters of a Jewish charity in Buenos Aires.

Families Welcome Reward

The reward offer was welcomed by relatives of the victims, who are still awaiting resolution of the case, AFP reported.

"Knowing that the United States and the world justice system have not forgotten this case is extremely important," said Ana Karina Smith Cain, whose grandfather died in the attack.

"It was an extremely tragic day of indescribable pain for the families of the victims. Hopefully, at some point, those responsible can be brought to trial," she added.

"Just like any other crime, we believe it should be investigated to the end, so that the attack does not go unpunished," Alberto Levy, a member of a group created in memory of the victims, said on the attack's 26th anniversary in 2020 .

"It was a criminal act without precedent in Panama," Juan Antonio Tejada, who was a senior prosecutor at the time, told AFP in 2020.

He said that because of Jamal's death, the case never went to trial.

Anyone with information on those responsible is asked to contact Rewards for Justice via Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at +1-202-702-7843.