The Palestinian who broke into the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and tried to take hostages on Tuesday was a former Israeli informer who was seeking political asylum, his lawyer claimed yesterday.
Avital Horev said his client, Nadim Injaz, who was born in the West Bank city of Ramallah, was wanted by the Palestinian Authority for collaborating with Israel.
Injaz was shot and wounded late on Tuesday after breaking into the Turkish mission and attempting to take a hostage in a bungled attempt to seek asylum.
In an official statement from Ankara, the Turkish foreign ministry said Injaz had climbed to the first story of the embassy and forced his way in, armed with a knife, a jerry can and a toy gun. Noone from the embassy was hurt.
Israeli medical sources said Injaz had sustained light injuries after being shot in the leg.
He was taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital, where his lawyer visited him overnight.
“During the 1990s and the early part of this decade, he stopped Palestinian attacks, saving many lives of both soldiers and Israeli citizens, but the Shin Bet [Israel’s internal security agency], whom he asked for protection, refused to recognize its responsibility towards him,” Horev told public radio.
Shin Bet denied having anything to do with him, with a spokeswoman saying Injaz “never worked for us” and that his case was being dealt with by the police.
Injaz was detained inside the embassy, which is sovereign Turkish territory, and was later handed over to the Israelis. It was not immediately clear on what charges he was being held.
Despite repeated attempts to obtain further information about his arrest, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said he had “no information” about the suspect or the charges against him.
The bungled attempt to seek asylum arose from a threat to Injaz’s life if he were to return to the Palestinian territories, his lawyer said.
“The Palestinian Authority has signed a death warrant against Nadim Injaz,” said Horev, adding his client had been released from an Israeli jail only three weeks ago after serving time for theft and staying in Israel illegally.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique