Buenos Aires  - A federal public prosecutor on Thursday requested the arrest of former Argentine president Carlos Menem (1989-1999) over "irregularities in the investigation" of an attack on a Jewish mutual fund that claimed the lives of 85 people in 1994, Argentine media reported.

Public prosecutor Alberto Nisman also requested the arrests of Menem's brother Munir Menem, former intelligence service boss Hugo Anzorreguy and former federal judge Juan Galeano, initially in charge of the investigation on the attack. Federal judge Ariel Lijo will now have to make a decision also on those requests.

Judge Lijo is currently in charge of the case around the attack on the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) on July 18, 1994, which left 85 people dead and over 200 injured in central Buenos Aires.

One of the allegations that implicates former president Menem and his brother is that they intervened to keep Kannore Edul, an alleged participant in the so-called "Argentine connection" in the case, off the investigation regarding the attack.

Argentine legislation sets 1 to 6-year jail sentences for those found guilty of obstructing an investigation.

The attack on the AMIA was the deadliest on Argentine soil, and came only two years after an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires killed 29.

Nisman has formally accused Iran of having masterminded the attack, allegedly perpetrated by Hezbollah. The Iranian government has insisted on its innocence, however. (dpa)