Argentina ex-spy chief testifies in prosecutor's death

Antonio Stiuso assisted Alberto Nisman’s investigation of the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s most famous spymaster appeared before a local court on Monday to answer questions about the last days of his relationship with a prosecutor who died while investigating the country’s worst terrorist attack.

Antonio Stiuso assisted prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s investigation of the unsolved 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center. Nisman tried to contact Stiuso four times by telephone the day before he was found shot dead in his apartment on Jan. 18, 2015. Stiuso said in a statement to a prosecutor last year that he never heard the calls.

Stiuso fled Argentina shortly after that, complaining of threats on his life and he had failed to comply with a summons ordering him to testify until now.

Days before his death, Nisman accused then-President Cristina Kirchner of helping Iranian officials cover up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing that killed 85 people. The case against Kirchner was later thrown out.

At the time, Kirchner suggested Nisman was killed by rogue intelligence agents, though she gave no evidence. She also said that Stiuso fed false information to Nisman and even had a hand in writing the late prosecutor’s report detailing the accusations against her.

Stiuso oversaw a widespread wire-tapping operation before he was removed as head of Argentina’s spy agency in December 2014.

His closed-door testimony comes just days after a top Argentine prosecutor told the country’s criminal court of appeals that he believes Nisman was killed and didn’t take his own life. It marked the first time that a judicial official has called Nisman’s mysterious death a homicide.