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What is known about Alberto Nisman's death? What lies behind Alberto Nisman's death?
(1 day later)
The death on 18 January of top Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman has led to fevered speculation in Argentina and abroad.The death on 18 January of top Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman has led to fevered speculation in Argentina and abroad.
Conjecture about the cause of his death emerged almost immediately as Mr Nisman had been due to give details of controversial allegations against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other high-ranking officials.Conjecture about the cause of his death emerged almost immediately as Mr Nisman had been due to give details of controversial allegations against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other high-ranking officials.
He had accused them of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.He had accused them of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.
President Fernandez herself has cast doubts on the theory that his death was suicide. President Fernandez herself has cast doubts on the theory put forward by an investigating prosecutor that his death was suicide.
Here we look at what investigators have revealed so far and the leads they are probing. Here we look at some of the background to the case and the theories that have been put forward.
What happened on Sunday 18 January? What was Mr Nisman investigating?
According to investigators, Alberto Nisman's bodyguards contacted his mother after he failed to answer their phone calls. Alberto Nisman was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people died.
She went to his flat but was unable to open the main door because she did not have the door code. He was put in charge of the probe in 2004 by the then-President Nestor Kirchner, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's late husband.
She tried the service door, which had conventional locks. But a key had been placed in the lower lock from the inside, which prevented her from turning her key. Mr Nisman was chosen to head the investigation after the previous investigation, led by judge Juan Jose Galeano, collapsed.
A locksmith was called and quickly managed to open the door by dislodging the key on the inside with the help of a wire. What is known about the 1994 bombing?
He told the media that the door had been closed but not locked, prompting speculation that the flat could have been accessed easily. A car bomb exploded outside the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (Amia) on 18 July 1994.
But Mr Nisman's mother later told the investigating prosecutor, Viviana Fein, that she had unlocked the upper lock before the locksmith's arrival. The seven-storey building collapsed and 85 people were killed.
What did they find? It was Argentina's deadliest terrorist attack.
Mr Nisman's mother and a bodyguard found his body in a pool of blood in the bathroom, Ms Fein said. Why was the Amia community centre targeted?
A pistol and a spent cartridge were found lying nearby on the floor. The attack on the Amia community centre came two years after 29 people died in an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
What did the investigating prosecutor say? A group calling itself Islamic Jihad Organisation said it was responsible for the 1992 attack.
Speaking on 19 January, a day after Mr Nisman's body was found, Ms Fein told reporters that his death was "suspicious", but that there was no indication of an "outside link" or the involvement of anyone else in his death. The group alleged the bombing was in revenge for the killing by Israel of Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Mussawi that same year.
Jewish and Israeli institutions abroad were seen as "soft targets", easier to attack than similar buildings in Israel.
Theories therefore soon surfaced pointing the finger for the Amia bombing at Hezbollah, a mainly Shia group backed by Iran.
Iran has denied any involvement in either of the attacks.
Who was behind the Amia attack?
No one has been convicted in connection with the attack.
Twenty-two people were charged as part of the original investigation led by Judge Juan Jose Galeano.
After three years of hearings, the trial concluded in 2004 and all 22 suspects were found not guilty due to lack of evidence.
Who were the suspects?
From the beginning, investigators suspected Iranian officials may have been behind the bombing.
Also among the accused were members of the Buenos Aires police force, who were suspected of helping to carry out the attack.
Argentine car salesman Carlos Telledin was accused of selling the lorry used in the attack.
The investigation and the court case were overshadowed by allegations that Judge Galeano paid Mr Telledin $400,000 (£263,000) to inculpate the police officers.
Judge Galeano was impeached. He is facing trial later this year accused of covering up evidence in the case.
What did Mr Nisman uncover?
In 2006, Mr Nisman formally charged Iranian officials with directing the Amia attack, which he alleged was carried out by Hezbollah militants.
In his most recent report, published just days before his death, he furthermore accused President Fernandez and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of covering up the Iran's purported role in the bombing.
He alleged that the government wanted to whitewash Iran in order to secure lucrative trade deals with Iran, exchanging Argentine grain for Iranian oil.
President Fernandez dismissed the allegations as "absurd".
Why was Mr Nisman's death considered "suspicious"?
Speaking on 19 January, a day after Mr Nisman's body was found, investigating prosecutor Viviana Fein told reporters that his death was "suspicious", but that there was no indication of an "outside link" or the involvement of anyone else in his death.
She did not rule out that Mr Nisman might have been "induced" to take his own life, though.She did not rule out that Mr Nisman might have been "induced" to take his own life, though.
"We're going to investigate if there was any kind of instigation to suicide through threats, be they through phone calls or text messages," she said."We're going to investigate if there was any kind of instigation to suicide through threats, be they through phone calls or text messages," she said.
Ms Fein added that suicide was the most likely cause.Ms Fein added that suicide was the most likely cause.
"We could talk about a suicide - the body was not beaten or mistreated - but we're not saying this is definitely the cause." But the time of his death, just hours before he was due to give details of his allegations against President Fernandez to a congressional committee, triggered outraged comments on social media networks, with many questioning whether the prosecutor may have been murdered.
What did the autopsy and other tests reveal? What theories have been put forward about his death?
Mr Nisman died of a single gunshot wound to the right temple.
The bullet that killed Mr Nisman was fired at close range from the gun discovered by his side, ballistic tests suggested.
But when experts tested Mr Nisman's hands for gunpowder residue, the test came out negative.
Ms Fein told local radio that the result was "not surprising".
"Because it's a small-calibre gun, a .22 calibre... this usually means that the gunshot residue test does not come out positive."
Where did the gun come from?
The gun belonged to an IT specialist, Diego Lagomarsino, who worked for Mr Nisman.
Mr Lagomarsino said Mr Nisman asked to borrow his gun on 17 January, the day before his death.
He went to the investigating prosecutor on 19 January voluntarily to tell her about the gun. He has been assigned a police guard for his own protection.
On 26 January, Ms Fein announced she was charging Mr Lagomarsino with illegally lending his firearm to Mr Nisman.
What evidence was found in the apartment?
Investigators said there were three possible ways to enter the flat:
According to investigators, there were recent footprints and a fingerprint inside the air conditioning passageway. They are being tested.
Ms Fein had previously said there were no traces of a burglary or signs of any of the doors being forced open.
What state of mind was Mr Nisman in?
No suicide note was found and friends and relatives of Mr Nisman said he had shown no signs of planning to take his life.
Congresswoman Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann - who had been due to collect Mr Nisman from his home and accompany him on 19 January, when was due to give his testimony - said: "Everybody who had contact with him the last 24 hours says he was confident. There is no indication, under any circumstances, that he killed himself."
Asked by journalists if she thought Mr Nisman had killed himself, his ex-wife Sandra Arroyo said simply: "No."
Mr Nisman's mother, Sara Garfunkel, told Argentine daily Clarin she did not think her son had taken his own life.
What other theories have been put forward about his death?
The death of Mr Nisman, just hours before he was due to give details of his allegations against President Fernandez to a congressional committee, triggered outraged comments on social media networks.
Many questioned whether the timing of his death was purely coincidental.
Protesters held up placards reading "Enough, Cristina!" and some shouted "Murderer" during demonstrations outside the presidential palace and the Amia Jewish community centre.
Opposition member of parliament Elisa Carrio told daily Clarin [in Spanish] that she was convinced Mr Nisman had been murdered and that "the government, the power" had played a role in his death.Opposition member of parliament Elisa Carrio told daily Clarin [in Spanish] that she was convinced Mr Nisman had been murdered and that "the government, the power" had played a role in his death.
"They killed him," she said. "I thought they stole and systematically lied, but I never thought they would be capable of killing," she added, "They killed him," she said. "I thought they stole and systematically lied, but I never thought they would be capable of killing," she added.
In a letter published on her website [in Spanish], President Fernandez put forward her own theory about Mr Nisman's death. Her views were mirrored by some of the protesters who demonstrated in front of the presidential palace in the days following Mr Nisman's death.
"I'm convinced that it was not suicide," she wrote. They yelled "murderer", and held up placards demanding justice for Mr Nisman.
She alleged that Mr Nisman was manipulated and fed false information to attack her and her government. What did President Fernandez say?
Why are there calls to dissolve Argentina's spy agency? In a letter [in Spanish] published a day after Mr Nisman's body was found, the president referred to Mr Nisman's death as a "suicide". The word was followed by a question mark.
In a televised speech on 26 January, President Fernandez said the Intelligence Secretariat (SI) had "not served the national interests" and that Argentina had a "national debt" to reform it. She also asked what could have led a person to take the terrible decision to take his life.
The SI, better known under its previous acronym of SIDE, is widely unpopular because of the role it played under military rule, when it acted as a secret police force. Two days later, in another letter published on her website [in Spanish], President Fernandez wrote: "I'm convinced that it was not suicide".
Ms Fernandez said she had taken the decision to remove agents who had been there since before the return to democracy in 1983. She alleged that Mr Nisman was manipulated to attack her and her government.
She also announced that as part of the reforms the responsibility for wiretaps would be taken away from the intelligence services. "They used him alive and then they needed him dead," she wrote.
Parts of Mr Nisman's report were based on wiretaps and the president has suggested he might have been misled by rogue members of the intelligence services. She did not explain who she thought had killed him but added that his death was "sad and terrible".
What is the role of the spy agency?
President Fernandez alleged Mr Nisman had been manipulated by rogue agents inside the Intelligence Secretariat (SI).
Parts of Mr Nisman's report were based on wiretaps and the president suggested he was fed false information by disgruntled spies and stooges posing as spies.
Ms Fernandez said she had "no proof" of her allegations, but stressed she had "no doubts" either.Ms Fernandez said she had "no proof" of her allegations, but stressed she had "no doubts" either.