A Jerusalem court has allowed publication of the identity of a man who was seriously injured in an eastern Jerusalem hotel when a bomb he was preparing apparently exploded prematurely.
Israeli police initially refused to identify the man, who lost both legs and his right arm in last Friday’s explosion.
But the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled Sunday on an appeal by Israel Radio and allowed identification of the man, who was traveling with a British passport under the name Andrew Neuman.
Jerusalem Police Chief Aryeh Amit said the man was handling some two pounds of explosives when they accidentally went off.
“I think he planned some kind of attack in Jerusalem, but we are still investigating,” he told reporters.
Amit said the bomb was not the same kind that had been used by Hamas suicide bombers in a series of attacks on Israelis in late February and early March.
The blast occurred last Friday morning on the third floor of the Lawrence Hotel on Salah Ed-Din Street, eastern Jerusalem’s main shopping street.
Neuman was taken to Hadassah Hospital. Israeli police reportedly postponed their questioning because of his condition.
Neuman was posing as a London-based accountant, according to British news reports.
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