Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner walks past a guard of honour upon her arrival at the Vnukovo II Government airport outside Moscow, Russia, yesterday.

Reuters/Buenos Aires


An Argentine prosecutor dismissed allegations that President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner tried to derail an inquiry into the bombing of a Jewish centre in 1994, likely marking the end of the case.
Federal prosecutor Javier De Luca was assigned by Argentina’s top appeals court after the case had already been rejected by a lower court in February, a decision upheld by a lower appeals court on account of “lack of evidence.”
“There has been no crime,” De Luca said. In his official statement, he said his decision was “equivalent to a definitive sentence.”
The allegations against Kirchner were originally levelled by prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in his flat with a bullet wound to the head on January 18, the day before he was due to testify about them to parliament.
Nisman had accused Kirchner of trying to cover up allegations made in Argentina courts that Iran was involved in the truck bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community centre in Buenos Aires in order to clinch a grains-for-oil deal with Tehran.
Iran denies any involvement in the bombing.
Nisman’s mysterious death spawned a slew of conspiracy theories, some involving Kirchner.
Her government has sought to discredit Nisman. Last week it made accusations that Nisman received salary kick-backs from the IT specialist who had been working with him on his original investigation into the bombing.
Kirchner’s cabinet chief said Nisman spent the embezzled money on champagne, women and lavish vacations. The accusation prompted outrage from the opposition, adding fuel to a scandal over Nisman’s death that has rocked Argentina for three months.
The president on Sunday published a statement on her personal website in which she stated that Nisman had said hedge fund manager Paul Singer could help the Jewish community. Argentina has fought a long court battle with Singer over its defaulted debt and vilified hedge funds as “vultures.”