Argentine top prosecutor found dead at home

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Argentine federal prosecutor who accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner last week of a cover-up has been found dead at his home in the capital, Buenos Aires.

Alberto Nisman was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in which 85 people died.

Last week, he accused the president of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in the bombing.The president's spokesman dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous".

Local media reported that Nisman, 51, had been found dead by his mother in the bathroom of his home. Officials urged people not to jump to conclusions.

"I ask you to be cautious and wait for the officials' reports. In the next days we'll know the cause of death; we did find a weapon," newspaper Clarin quoted prosecutor Viviana Fein as saying.

Nisman was due to give evidence at a congressional committee hearing on Monday to outline his accusations against President Fernandez and other officials. He had published a 300-page report on Wednesday alleging that the president and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman had opened a secret back channel to Iranians suspected of involvement in the bombing of the community centre.

Nisman alleged that the scheme was intended to clear the Iranian suspects in order to facilitate a trade deal between Iran and Argentina. He said that he had issued a request that a judge question the president and the foreign minister "for being authors and accomplices of an aggravated cover-up and obstruction of justice regarding the Iranians accused of the Amia [Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association] terrorist attack".

The car bombing of the seven-storey building was the worst terrorist attack in Argentina's history.

In 2007, Argentine prosecutors accused Iran of planning and financing the attack, and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of carrying it out.

Iran dismissed the allegations as "baseless".

So far, no-one has been convicted in connection with the Amia attack.

Last July, at events marking the 20th anniversary of the bombing, Pope Francis demanded justice for the victims.

In a recorded video to mark the anniversary, the Pope described the attack as an "act of madness".