Shorts: World

Arrests made in Uzbek blasts

istanbul (jta) | Uzbek officials said they had made a number of arrests in connection with three suicide bombings, one of which took place at the Israeli Embassy in Tashkent.

The blast at the Israel Embassy on July 30 killed two Uzbek security guards, and a third died in an attack on the U.S. Embassy in the former Soviet republic.

A team of Israeli investigators traveled to Tashkent over the weekend to help in the probe. A group known as the Islamic Jihad Group in Uzbekistan claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying it was an attack on links between the Uzbek government "and its infidel allies of Americans and Jews."

But government officials said a group known as Hizb-ut-Tahir was responsible for the blasts. Meanwhile, Israel said it is boosting security at all of its embassies.




Argentine governor subjected to slurs

buenos aires (jta) | The Jewish governor of the Argentine province of Tucuman was the target of anti-Semitic songs and graffiti.

The insults hurled at Jose Alperovich on July 30 were made during a protest organized by public employees who are battling for better salaries.

The DAIA political umbrella group for the Argentine Jewish community expressed its anger over the incident. "I believe the union protest for a salary increment is legitimate," said Jorge Kirszenbaum, a DAIA official. "But I guess the social protest loses value if it becomes a discriminatory and xenophobic expression."

Alperovich was traveling, but Tucuman's vice governor, Fernando Juri, denounced the comments.




Librarian alleged to have looted books

paris (jta) | The head of the Hebrew section of France's national library was arrested on suspicion of stealing hundreds of historic books and documents.

Michel Garel, 56, who has headed the department for the past 20 years, initially denied all charges of aggravated theft, though he admitted to an investigating judge on July 31 that he had sold one of the works for $300,000 at a public auction at Christie's after forging authentication certificates.

Garel's wife is being investigated as an accomplice since the couple is believed to have purchased an apartment with the money.

The national library collection contains hundreds of works including ancient Bibles, Talmuds and Torah fragments, and initially was commissioned by France's King Charles V in the 14th century.