A Palestinian sought by Israel in the killing of a Jewish settler 30 years ago was found dead Friday in the courtyard of the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria.
Omar Nayef Zayed, 51, plummeted from the embassy’s fourth floor in Sofia and landed in the courtyard, AFP reported, citing Bulgarian radio.
His death came a day after Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov returned from a trip to Israel, where he discussed the possible extradition of Zayed with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
The fugitive “was discovered with serious torso injuries,” a senior Palestinian Authority official told the Wafa news agency.
A Palestinian official in Bulgaria alerted authorities “about a man who died as a result of violence,” but a prosecution spokeswoman later said no signs of violence were found on his body, Reuters reported.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, of which Zayed had been a member, claimed he had been shot in the head.
But officials said he was still alive when an ambulance arrived and there were no gunshot wounds. He died before paramedics were able to take him to a hospital.
Authorities were investigating whether he fell or was pushed.
Issa Qaraqea, chairman of a prisoners’ association run by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, accused Israel of “assassinating” Zayed, Reuters reported.
Palestinian Ambassador Ahmed al-Madbuh called the death a murder and said it was “a result of the continuing persecution by Israel,” the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon denied Israel had any role.
“This is not an Israeli issue,” he said.
Zayed was convicted of murder in 1986 but fled from a Bethlehem hospital in 1990 during a hunger strike.
Four years later, he fled to Bulgaria and married a local woman with whom he had three children.
He had received threats and sought refuge in the Palestinian embassy in Sofia two months ago.
Bulgarian authorities last year agreed to consider an Israeli extradition request, but a Dec. 14 hearing was postponed because Zayed was not at his address, the Bulgarian interior ministry said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced the formation of a special commission to investigate his death, Wafa reported.
Israeli public radio quoted “a security source” as saying that “Israel has no interest in striking at an elderly terrorist, especially if it involves danger or committing resources.”
Zayed was convicted in the stabbing death of yeshiva student Eliyahu Amedi in Jerusalem’s Old City. He was sentenced to life and had been imprisoned along with two other men.