Omar Al-Naif assassinated in Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria

Palestinian fugitive Omar Al-Naif has been assassinated in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, Quds Press reported.

Al-Naif had taken refuge in the embassy two months ago after Israel requested he be extradited.

Ahmed Al-Naif, Omar’s brother told Quds Press that his brother was assassinated and his body was found inside the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria. He said they received the news from Omar’s son but did not know the details surrounding his death. Adding that he believes the Israeli Mossad managed to assassinate him.

The Israeli authorities has been pursuing Al-Naif, 52, after he refused to hand himself in in 1985, and he was pursued until April 1986, when he was arrested in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.

After being sentence to life in prison and serving four years, Al-Naif went on hunger strike for 40 days, after which he was transferred to a hospital in Bethlehem. On 20 May 1990, he escaped and disappeared.

He lived in a number of Arab countries after escaping imprisonment until 1994, when he travelled to Bulgaria and settled there. He is married and has three children, and his wife and children all have Bulgarian citizenship, he was granted permanent residency in the country.