A Palestinian terrorist wanted by Israel was killed in an incident in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, local media reported.
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Prosecutors said in an initial statement they had been alerted by a representative of the Palestinian mission in Bulgaria “about a man who died as a result of violence” but a spokeswoman for the prosecutors later said no signs of violence were found on his body. Zayed was still alive when an ambulance arrived, and there were no gunshot wounds.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has announced the formation of a special commission of enquiry to look into his death, Wafa said. His death at the Palestinian Authority’s embassy in Sofia was described by the ambassador as murder.
The radical Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) of which Zayed was a militant, confirmed the news and according to the Palestinian news agency Maan said that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was responsible. Nayif refused to turn himself into the Bulgarian authorities, considering the procedure illegal, according to the Palestinian Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs.
Late previous year Bulgarian authorities agreed to examine an Israeli extradition request, but a December 14 hearing was postponed because Nayef was not at his address, the Bulgarian interior ministry said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said “this is not an Israeli issue” but would not comment further.
Al-Nayef was detained by Israel in 1986 and sentenced to life, but in 1990 he was transferred to a Palestinian hospital due to his deteriorating medical conditions, where he escaped and came to Bulgaria.
“We’ve told both sides that in Bulgaria there is rule of law”, BNT quoted Borisov as saying in Parliament in reference to the extradition process.
Born in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Nayef was convicted and sentenced by an Israeli court to life in prison in 1986 for allegedly killing an Israeli settler.
Abbas condemned “the horrendous crime”, and has sent a team to Bulgaria for the investigation, reported the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
His brother, Ahmed Zayed, and the other Palestinian were part of a lopsided prisoner swap in 2011 in which more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged for an Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, who had been held by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza for five years.
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Ian Deitch reported from Jerusalem.
