Police: Palestinian envoy in Prague held explosives in hand

PRAGUE — The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Prague who died in a blast at his residence on New Year’s Day was holding the explosive in his hand when it went off, a police spokeswoman told AFP on Monday.

“An experimental blast carried out by experts confirms this theory,” Prague police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova said, denying earlier reports that the blast was caused by a booby-trapped safe.

Jamal al-Jamal, 56, died in a hospital on January 1, only three months after taking up his post, following an explosion that occurred soon after he opened a safe.

“The explosive was not placed on the door or inside the safe and was not there to protect the safe,” Zoulova said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

Zoulova told The Association Press that “mishandling remains the most likely option.”

“There’s a question whether he knew what he was dealing with,” she added.

After the incident, Czech police found 12 firearms at the Palestinian embassy in Prague, including submachine guns and sidearms that were not officially registered in the Czech Republic.

Local media said the weapons were produced in the former Czechoslovakia and supplied to the Palestine Liberation Organisation before communism fell in Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Palestinian diplomats later apologized for hiding the illegal weapons at the embassy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.