Argentina arrest two brothers with suspected links to Hezbollah

Police in Argentina arrested two brothers suspected of ties to Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement based on information provided by local Jews.

The men, in their 20s, were arrested Thursday in the capital, Buenos Aires. Police discovered a small arsenal that included a rifle, one shotgun and a number of pistols, among other weapons, Reuters reported.

DAIA, the umbrella group of Argentine Jewish communities, received an anonymous tip about the brothers in January, which it reported to police. Federal judge Sebastian Ramos subsequently ordered the arrests of Axel Ezequiel Abraham Salomon and Kevin Gamal Abraham Salomon.

Earlier this year, Argentina froze the assets of a suspected Hezbollah fundraising network. Suspected Hezbollah operative Assad Ahmad Barakat was subsequently arrested near Brazil’s border with Argentina and Paraguay.

Buenos Aires is scheduled to host the G20 summit this month.

Police said they discovered evidence of travel abroad “along with credentials in Arabic and an image of the Hezbollah flag.” They did not specify the nature of the travel or credentials, and did not say whether the brothers had intention of attacking the G20 event.

Source: JTA