Argentina Says Warned of Possible Attack

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Argentina Says Warned of Possible Attack Wed Nov 26,10:23 AM ET By Alistair Scrutton

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentina, victim in the 1990s of deadly bombings against Israeli and Jewish centers, said on Wednesday foreign intelligence services had warned of a possible attack on U.S., British or Spanish interests in the South American nation.

"Yesterday, we received information from national intelligence services and two foreign intelligence services that Argentina could face some kind of attack," Defense Minister Jose Pampuro told local radio.

Pampuro said the armed forces had been put on alert. He added that Argentina had received a similar warning about four or five months ago.

Security experts say Argentina has a high risk of being attacked because of its recent history of bombings, a large Jewish community and the porous tri-border region with Paraguay and Brazil, a region suspected by Washington of bankrolling Islamic militants.

That tri-border area is one of the focuses in Latin America of the U.S. "war on terror."

The government is still investigating a 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center that killed 85 people. Argentina has suspected Iranian involvement, something Iran denies.

Two years before that attack, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 29 people. Authorities have still not found who was responsible for that attack.

The warning came a day after Britain, a key ally of the United States in the recent invasion of Iraq (news - web sites), said it had received information of possible additional attacks in Turkey after suicide bombings this month killed dozens at the British consulate and the London-based banking giant HSBC.

Groups apparently linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network claimed responsibility for those attacks, as well as for earlier bombings at two Istanbul synagogues.

Argentina was the only South American nation to send troops to the Gulf War (news - web sites) in 1991. But this year, the government, like most Latin American countries, did not support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Spain supported the invasion.

There was no sign of increased security at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires. The U.S. Embassy, normally heavily guarded, had no comment on any security measures.

A large number of Spanish, British and U.S. firms operate in Argentina, including major banks and telecommunications companies.

Argentina is home to 300,000 Jews, the largest Jewish population in Latin America.