Argentina says dead prosecutor was 'tricked' into accusing president of de-railing 1994 bomb probe
A prosecutor who accused Argentina's president of trying to derail the investigation into a 1994 bombing, and who died in mysterious circumstances, was misled to believe there was a conspiracy to whitewash the crime, the government said.
State prosecutor Alberto Nisman, the lead investigator into the 1994 car bomb attack that killed 85 people at a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, was found dead in his apartment late on Sunday, hours before he was scheduled to present his case to Congress.
A 22-caliber pistol was found at his side and Nisman appears to have committed suicide, but many of the details of the case are unclear and allegations of foul play have surged. He died just a few days after accusing President Cristina Fernandez of trying to hamper his probe.
A top government official said Nisman was tricked into believing that two men who formed the backbone of his case against President Cristina Fernandez were government spies.
"They sold him on a connection that did not exist," said Anibal Fernandez, the president's chief of staff.
Antonio Stiusso, a senior Argentine spy, was fired in a December shake-up of the intelligence service, where one of his duties had been to help Nisman with the investigation into the 1994 bombing.
Chief of Staff Fernandez said it was Stiusso who falsely told Nisman that the two men who helped him build a case against the president were state intelligence agents.
