AMIA investigation judge sacked

Argentine judges decided on Wednesday to remove a colleague from the bench over his incompetent handling of the probe into the country's worst-ever terrorist attack, the 1994 bombing of the Jewish AMIA center in Buenos Aires that left 85 people dead. The removal from the bench of Juan José Galeano was approved by a judicial review panel and opens the way for the former judge to answer for the irregularities that occurred during the almost ten years he presided over the investigation. Galeano was suspended in February and failed to appear at a hearing, but he said he would appeal the decision. The panel found that the judge took part in negotiations to pay US$ 400,000 to a man who dealt in stolen cars to identify police officers allegedly involved with the terrorists who carried out the bombing. The judicial review panel found that Galeano "failed to observe the ethical and legal standards that regulate his conduct" by allowing the payment to be made to the witness. Jorge Kirszenbaum from the Delegation of Jewish Associations in Argentina (DAIA) said that the path was now cleared to establish who was behind the bombing.