Venezuela accuses 11 in Caracas synagogue attack

Venezuelan prosecutors have filed charges against eight police officers and three others in the January attack on Caracas' largest synagogue. In a statement released Thursday, prosecutors said they have asked a court to approve charges including robbery and acts of contempt against a religion. The Tiferet Israel synagogue was ransacked and vandalized January 30. The assailants shattered religious objects, spray-painted anti-Semitic slogans and stole a computer database with the names and addresses of Jews in Venezuela. The attack took place as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez severed diplomatic ties with Israel in protest of its military offensive on the Gaza Strip. Chavez condemned the synagogue attack and denies provoking anti-Semitism.