Czech Officials Demand Explanation for Weapons at Palestinian Mission

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/world/europe/czech-officials-demand-explanation-for-weapons-at-palestinian-mission.html

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PRAGUE — The Czech authorities, investigating an explosion that killed the Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic at his residence in Prague on Wednesday, now say that they found 12 illegal weapons at the Palestinian Mission next door.

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday that the weapons constituted a severe breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and demanded an explanation from the Palestinians.

A police spokeswoman, Andrea Zoulova, declined to give more details about the type of weapons found.

The Palestinian deputy foreign minister, Taysir Jaradat, was quoted by The Associated Press as maintaining that the weapons were legal. “We informed the Czech side that the weapons had been at the embassy for a very long time, reaching as far back as to the former Communist regime,” Mr. Jaradat said. “They either had permission or were gifts to the ambassador.”

The police said the ambassador, Jamal al-Jamal, 56, died of injuries caused by the explosion of a safe at his new residence. Ms. Zoulova said the police were still examining the safe, which had been rigged with an explosive security device. The authorities have said that careless handling was the most likely cause of the blast.

The finding of the weapons has upset residents of the Suchdol district of Prague, where the new mission and residence are located. The district mayor, Petr Hejl, has formally requested that the embassy be relocated. A spokeswoman for the Czech Foreign Ministry, Johana Grohova, told the Czech Press Agency that the ministry shared residents’ fears and was open to talks.

Mr. Jamal’s body is scheduled to be returned to the Palestinian authorities late Monday.

Communist Czechoslovakia maintained friendly relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization, the main umbrella organization of the Palestinian national movement, in the 1980s and even upgraded its mission to the Embassy of the State of Palestine in 1989, the name still in use today. But since the 1989 collapse of Communist rule and the 1993 split of the country, the Czech Republic, like Slovakia, has been a supporter of Israel.

The Palestine Liberation Organization maintains missions in a number of European capitals as part of a broader diplomatic effort aimed at advancing the cause of Palestinian statehood.