Grand Jury Looking Into Bombing Death of Arab Leader Odeh

Nearly two years after Arab-American leader Alex Odeh was killed in his Santa Ana office, a federal grand jury investigation into the bombing death is under way, according to sources close to the case.

Witnesses, including his former office assistant, have received subpoenas from a federal grand jury requesting their testimony about the Oct. 11, 1985, explosion in Odeh’s office. The apparent terrorist attack is one of Orange County’s major unsolved murders.

Palestine-born Odeh was the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee’s West Coast regional director. He was killed 12 hours after he appeared on a late-night TV news program to condemn terrorism and defend Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat as “a man of peace.”

Priority Investigation

Asst. U.S. Atty. J. Stephen Czuleger, the federal prosecutor assigned to the Odeh case, said Monday he could neither confirm nor deny the existence of a grand jury investigation.

“Putting aside the grand jury, the (Odeh) investigation is a high-priority one,” Czuleger said. “The FBI has had it under investigation since the crime occurred and has continued its investigation.”

According to published reports, Hind Baki, Odeh’s assistant, received a grand jury subpoena asking that she bring information about her contacts at the anti-bias committee in the three months before Odeh’s death.

“It’s only on the advice of my lawyer that I have to say no comment,” said Baki, who now works as a reporter for the Orange County Register. Baki declined to discuss her work with Odeh, but in previous interviews had said she normally opened the office. On the day of the bombing, Odeh had asked her to run some errands, so he was the first to arrive.

At one point, the FBI attributed the Odeh bombing to the Jewish Defense League, a radical group originally formed to combat anti-Semitism. But the FBI later backed off, saying instead that “Jewish extremist elements” were suspected.

Faris Bouhafa, a spokesman for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Washington headquarters, said Monday he is aware of the Los Angeles grand jury probe: “While we certainly welcome a Los Angeles grand jury probe into the Alex Odeh assassination, we are more concerned about information we have received that the Israeli government has obstructed the FBI’s investigation in Israel.”

He said the committee plans later this week to release detailed information about the problems the FBI is having with the Israeli government. He declined to elaborate further.

An FBI spokesman in Los Angeles said the bureau would have no comment on any aspect of the Odeh case.

Brother Is Pleased

However, Assistant FBI Director Oliver B. (Buck) Revell recently spoke at an ADC meeting and said a federal grand jury in Los Angeles was investigating alleged criminal activities against “the Arab community by Jewish extremist groups.”

Odeh’s brother, Sami, said Monday he was pleased to learn the grand jury investigation was finally under way.

“It’s gratifying for me and the family that some work is being done,” said Odeh, who lives in Orange. “We hope the investigation will lead to a conviction.”

He said he was aware that the FBI was not receiving “full cooperation from the state of Israel,” but had no details.