Office Fire Seen as Third Attack on Arab Group

The chairman of an Arab-American group, linking a fire here that destroyed the group’s offices to two recent attacks against the organization, said Saturday that a private investigator has determined that the fire was set by an intruder who doused a neighboring office with gasoline.

James G. Abourezk, chairman of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, called the fire Friday “the third serious attack” against the organization committed by assailants who want to “silence us.”

The committee’s West Coast regional director, Alex Odeh, was killed by a bomb at his Santa Ana office Oct. 11. A bomb found on Aug. 16 in front of a committee regional office in Massachusetts injured two police officers who had been sent to dispose of it.

Abourezk said he did not know who was responsible for the Washington fire, but he said that two militant organizations, the Jewish Defense League and the Jewish Defense Organization, have made threatening phone calls to the group. On Saturday, the JDL and the JDO denied responsibility for the fire.

Although the two-alarm blaze started at about 8 p.m. in a second-story office occupied by a public relations firm, Abourezk said evidence indicated that it was intended for the Arab committee.

He also said evidence developed by the private investigator was turned over to police. A police investigator refused to comment on the report. Fire Battalion Chief Ray Alfred said the fire will be classified “suspicious” until the arson squad determines its cause.