News / Palestine

Former Palestinian prisoner 'assassinated' in Bulgaria

Friday, 26 February 2016 2:37 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 February 2016 2:37 PM ]

Palestinian prisoner Omar Nayef, 52, was found dead in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, February 26, 2016 (file photo)

A former Palestinian prisoner wanted by the Israeli regime has been "assassinated" at the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, his family says.

On Friday, Omar Nayef, 52, was found dead in the Palestinian embassy where he had taken refuge after the Israeli ambassador to Sofia asked the Bulgarian authorities to extradite him in December 2015.

Bulgarian radio reported that he had fallen from the fourth floor.

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.

After four years of detention where had been beaten and tortured, Nayef went on a hunger strike. Some 40 days later, he was transferred to a hospital in Bethlehem.

On May 21, 1990, he escaped the hospital and lived in several different Arab nations until 1994 when he was able to travel to Bulgaria.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the incident and quickly ordered an investigation into what he said was a crime.

The head of the Palestinian Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, accused Israeli intelligence agency Mossad of being behind the murder and urged an international investigation into the death.

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