Caracas Synagogue vandalized
Photo: AP
A security guard and a police officer who worked as a bodyguard for a local rabbi are among the suspects accused of ransacking and vandalizing a Caracas synagogue, Venezuela's justice minister said Monday.
Tareck El Aissami said that one of the two security guards on duty during last month's attack at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue helped intruders by cutting electricity cables feeding an electric fence surrounding the building and deactivating the alarm.
Under Attack
Associated Press
Dozens rally across from UN bureau in Caracas to protest recent attack on capital's synagogue
The security guard was among 11 people, including eight police officers, who were arrested over the weekend, El Aissami said.
El Aissami said a city police officer who he said worked as a bodyguard for a local rabbi until December organized the assault. Authorities are searching for additional suspects, he said.
About 15 people forced their way into the synagogue in downtown Caracas on Jan. 30, shattering religious objects and spray-painting "Jews, get out" on the walls, along with other anti-Semitic messages. The assailants also stole a computer database with names and addresses of Jews living in Venezuela.
Elias Farache, president of the Venezuelan-Israelite Association, told The Associated Press that he could not confirm that one of the suspects had worked as a bodyguard for a rabbi.
The attack has raised concerns of rising anti-Semitism and religious intolerance in Venezuela.
US State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters on Monday that Washington is concerned by the trend.
"We expect that the government of Venezuela will do what it can to make sure that that type of activity doesn't continue," Wood said.
President Hugo Chavez has condemned the assault. But some Jewish leaders say the socialist president's harsh criticism of the Israeli government and its military offensive in the Gaza Strip have inspired anti-Semitism.