MOSCOW(JTA) — The city of Moscow will be the leading sponsor of the Jerusalem 3000 festival to be held here later this month.

The mayor has allocated about $31,000 for the event, a move that would have been unimaginable in Russia not too long ago.

Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is a close friend of Vladimir Gusinsky, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress, another festival sponsor.

Other festival donors include the Russian Culture Ministry, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Argentine team to probe bombing

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — The Argentine government has apparently decided to create a special police team to investigate the July 18, 1994 bombing of the Jewish community's headquarters here that left 86 dead and 300 wounded.

In a secret meeting recently with Interior Minister Carlos Corach and high-ranking police and security officials, Ruben Beraja, the president of the Argentine Jewish umbrella organization DAIA, asked for "more resources for the investigation and the creation of a special police unit dedicated full time to the case."

The investigation into the bombing of the Argentine Mutual Aid Association, or AMIA, has stalled after 19 months of an investigation marked by false leads and dead ends. During the past year, the official in charge of the investigation, Judge Juan Jose Galeano, dismissed four police officers from the case, citing a lack of results.

Iraq slated to host world chess contest

PARIS (JTA) — The International Chess Federation has taken the world by surprise with its announcement that the next world chess championship would be held in June in Baghdad.

Federation President Kirsan Ilumjinov made the announcement at a news conference in Paris, where he said that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had offered $2 million in prize money for the tournament between Anatoly Karpov of Russia and Russian American Gata Kamsky.

Explaining the decision, Ilumjinov told the French daily newspaper Liberation: "Saddam Hussein is not a terrorist. I met him several times. I found him rather pleasant. He is intelligent and analyzes rapidly."