FBI Attributes Odeh Killing to Extremists

WASHINGTON — The FBI told a House panel Wednesday that “Jewish extremist elements” are suspected in the Santa Ana bombing that killed Alex M. Odeh, West Coast director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and that the investigation “extends beyond the boundaries of the United States.”

“The Alex Odeh case is the highest priority investigation in our domestic terrorism program, and it will continue to be until it is solved,” FBI Assistant Executive Director Oliver B. Revell told the House judiciary subcommittee on criminal justice, which heard testimony on discrimination and terrorist acts aimed at Arab-Americans.

“We have suspects in this case, and we are pursuing these suspects,” Revell said.

Although Revell refused to disclose the number of suspects or any other details of the case, he described the suspected perpetrators as “Jewish extremist elements.”

However, he refused to link those elements with the Jewish Defense League, which initially was suspected of being responsible for the bombing. “We cannot prove” that the suspects were acting on behalf of a particular organization, he said.