Panama’s president, Juan Carlos Varela, called for the investigation into the 1994 Alas Chiricanas crash to be reopened after Israeli intelligence surfaced that confirmed terrorist involvement. The flight to Panama City blew up shortly after take-off from Colon, killing 21 passengers, many of whom were Jews. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote to President Varela last November claiming that the crash was the result of a bomb that had been infiltrated into the cabin by Hezbollah operatives. Initially, the suspect was named as Jamal Lya, but in October the FBI ascertained that the individual’s air ticket had been purchased using false identification, and that his real name was Ali Hawa Jamal.