BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor in the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, was found dead hours before he was to meet with lawmakers regarding the 1994 attack.
Nisman, 51, was discovered in the bathroom of his apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Puerto Madero early Monday morning with a gunshot wound from a .22-caliber pistol.
“All signs point to suicide,” Argentine Security Secretary Sergio Berni said, according to AFP.
Nisman had 10 agents from the Argentine Federal Police assigned for his personal safety, according to the Security Ministry.
He was found dead 12 hours before a closed-door meeting with congressional lawmakers in which he was expected to reveal details of his allegations against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman for their alleged cover up of Iran’s role in the bombing, which killed 85 and injured hundreds.
According to Nisman’s accusations, contained in a lawsuit filed last week in federal court, Fernandez covered up for former Iranian officials accused of involvement in the attack. Timerman, who is Jewish, also was named in the lawsuit, which seeks a freeze on Kirchner’s assets.
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