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Turkey says suspected assailant at Tel Aviv embassy underinterrogation

18 August 2010 00:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkey said Tuesday a man who broke into the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv earlier in the day was under interrogation at the embassy compound after being captured, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

The man, reported to be a Palestinian, was taken into custody by embassy security guards and an investigation was underway, Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Gunfire was heard after the man entered the embassy on Tuesday afternoon. The man was reportedly shot and wounded by security guards, Israeli media reported.

The man, who was carrying a knife, a fuel can and a toy gun, came to the first floor, broke the window and entered the building, the ministry statement said.

He "raved that he was seeking asylum and attempted to take the vice consul as hostage," the ministry said.

It added that all embassy staff were in good conditions.

The suspect was identified as Nadim Injaz, a Palestinian from the West Bank town of Ramallah, according to Israeli media. He claimed to be a former informant of Israeli security forces, but Israel’s Channel 2 TV said he has no connection to Israeli army or police.

In 2006, he barricaded himself in the British embassy in Tel Aviv and claimed that Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency, was trying to kill him.