Police stop attack on Buenos Aires Jewish center

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Police in Buenos Aires, Argentina, arrested a man suspected of planning an attack on a Jewish community center.

The unidentified man, 57, was arrested Tuesday by the Federal Police Anti-Terrorism Division, after a threat against the center, the Sociedad Hebraica, was posted on social media. Sergio Berni, Argentina's secretary of National Security, said police received a warning from Interpol, the international police organization, to a possible plot to attack the center.

He added that 1,500 security personnel were deployed last week to 99 sites around Argentina, coinciding with Jewish holy days. The Sociedad Hebraica, a cultural and sporting facility founded in 1926, was evacuated Oct. 2 and closed the following day.

The arrest came as anti-Semitic incidents have been reported around the world, apparent protests against Israel's involvement in the 50-day war in Gaza. In the 1990s, Buenos Aires saw two major attacks against Jewish targets; an attack on the Israel Embassy killed 29 people in 1992, and the bombing of a Jewish center in 1994 killed 94.