Palestinian ambassador in Prague dies after injuries from blast

President Miloš Zeman and Jamal Muhammad Jamal, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Palestine

www.jpost.com...

PRAGUE - The Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic was died after sustaining injured in an explosion at his residence in Prague on Wednesday.

The blast occurred before midday and Ambassador Jamal al-Jamal's family was also at the two-story residence in a northern suburb of the Czech capital. But no one else was hurt.

"There has been a detonation of a so-far unidentified explosive mixture," spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova said.

"The ambassador was injured ... and taken to hospital with serious injuries. At the moment it is impossible to specify what kind of explosive it was. A search ... is under way at the moment," she said.

This is breaking so no further information is available. A Palestinian ambassador was the target of a terrorist attack? This is interesting because this would be the first time I can recall an event like this happening.

I know nothing about this man so doing a search yielded some recent results.

Zeman´s words harmed Czech-Arab ties - Palestinian ambassador

Oct 11, 2013

Prague - President Milos Zeman´s statements about moving the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem have harmed the Czech Republic´s relations with Arab states, new Palestinian ambassador Jamal Al Jamal said in an interview with CTK today.Prague - President Milos Zeman´s statements about moving the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem have harmed the Czech Republic´s relations with Arab states, new Palestinian ambassador Jamal Al Jamal said in an interview with CTK today.

He said he asked Zeman to take steps to moderate the impact of his words and that Zeman assured him the moving would only be possible after peace were reached between Israel and Palestine.

Jamal met Zeman today when he was handing him his credentials. In a personal discussion, Jamal asked Zeman to come closer to the Palestinians.

In the interview with CTK he spoke about the possibility of Zeman´s visit to Palestine next year.
Zeman spoke about the possible moving of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem still before his visit to Israel this week.

He angered not only the Palestinians, but also representatives of the Arab League.

During his Israeli visit he was moderating his words with a statement that the embassy could only move to Jerusalem after peace is reached in the Middle East.

Jamal said Zeman told him today that not only the embassy in Israel would move to the western part Jerusalem then, but also the Czech mission in Palestine would move to the eastern part of the capital.

The Palestinians still count with that Eastern Jerusalem will become capital of their future state.

The question is, what terrorist would gain from his murder?

RIP Jamal al-Jamal.

UPDATES:

CNN just put out an update saying the police are investigating the possibility that the ambassador was himself working with the explosives that killed him. Was the ambassador a terrorist?

edition.cnn.com...

Police were investigating the possibility that al Jamal himself was "manipulating with explosives," she said.
She added that authorities found evidence of explosives in the debris.

I live in Prague, so I just checked the local media for any updates.

A couple of things have become clear. Maybe.

Here's a couple of extracts from the updated report on Novinky.cz, one of the more reliable local news media sources, with my translation below. (I don't use google translate; I translate myself.)
First off, the possible cause:

K výbuchu došlo při otevírání trezoru v domě, kdy explodoval systém připojený ke schránce. Velvyslanec utrpěl velmi vážná zranění dolních i horních končetin. Podle zdrojů obeznámených s vyšetřováním policie prověřuje nález většího množství zbraní a výbušnin.

Translation:
The explosion occurred while opening the safe in the home, when a system connected with the safe** exploded. The Ambassador suffered serious injuries to his upper and lower limbs. According to a source connected with the investigating police they were verifying the discovery of a quantity of weapons and exposives.
(End translation.) [Note: the word used here (schránce) can also be translated as "strongbox" in this context but as the very specific word "trezor" (safe) was used at the start, I've repeated it here.]

Next, the injuries to the Ambassador:

Velvyslance převezli do Ústřední vojenské nemocnice a byl uveden do umělého spánku. Zdroj blízký vyšetřování později uvedl, že Džamál zemřel. Podle vedoucího chirurga Daniela Langera utrpěl zranění hrudníku, břicha a hlavy neslučitelná se životem.

Translation:
The Ambassador was transported to the Central Military Hospital** and was placed in an induced coma. A source close to the investigation has stated that Jamal has died. Daniel Langer, the Head Surgeon, said that he [Note: ie Jamal] suffered injuries to the chest, stomach and head that were not compatible with life. [Note: that's how they say here that the injuries were fatal/mortal.]
(End translation.) [**Just a side note: this hospital is also for the general public and has excellent facilties. I've been a patient there myself.]

Finally, re whether this was a terrorist attack:

Pyrotechnici prohledávají i sousední dům v Suchdole, který rovněž patří palestinské ambasádě. Na místo zamířil také policejní prezident Martin Červíček. Ten v České televizi řekl, že podle jeho informací nebyl výbuch teroristickým útokem.

Translation:
Additionally, pyrotechnicians have searched an adjoining house in Suchdol that also belongs to the Palestinian Embassy. Police President [Note : ie, Commissioner] Martin Červíček went to the scene as well. On Czech Television** he said his information was that the explosion was not a terrorist attack.
(End of translation.) [Note: "Czech Television" means a station in the state TV network, as distinct from a commercial station, which would be identified as eg TV Nova, TV Prima, etc etc.]

Comments: okay, so officially, at this time the Police Commissioner is saying it wasn't a terrorist attack, and the info released indicates that when the safe was opened (by Jamal apparently), a device was triggered.

What puzzles me is how the Ambassador could have made such a mistake. It's highly unlikely he was hung over as I doubt he'd imbibe alcohol at all; but perhaps he was tired after some New Year's Eve events he might have had to attend. Hard to say. But while from a security standpoint I can see the sense in having a self-destruct device for a safe that might contain highly sensitive information, I have to wonder about how this all happened.

Frankly I think there may be more this than meets the eye.

reply to post by JustMike


That's one hell of an update that even the major MSM outlets don't have yet! Thank you!

If you want this thread can be moved to any forum you see fit since it appears not to be the work of terrorism, but as you've said, there may be more than meets the eye.

Mossad Modus Operandi !!!

reply to post by Swills

The major MSM outlets either have to wait for a Czech source to release an English version of the report/s or use their own people to translate them. So, as it had happened in many cases, we on ATS can often get regional info out faster.

I'm posting here as a member, not as staff, but my personal opinion is that as this matter is still a bit up in the air, the current forum is as good a place as any.

Meanwhile, we've got some more detailed info about the safe and the explosion. It was released in an update on a related article on novinmky.cz about 12 minutes ago. I'll write it up and put it in here as an edit.

ETA: On second thoughts I'll just post it in a new post below.

Well, first, forgive me Swills..I cannot help but note the English speaking staff writer must have had the day off at the Jpost. That first line clears the figurative sinuses in a hurry, looking at your news quote.

Onto the story tho... So the Ambassador blew himself up on an armed, explosive security measure attached to the safe?

What the...?! Just what secrets of life, the Universe and the #42 do the Palestinians imagine they possess in their Ambassadorial safes??? I've never once heard of anything like that on American or Russian security? Really? Active Self Destruct along with the person standing there, if compromised??? Really!?

Talk about unforgiving for brainfarts on sequence of steps. "Do I disarm the block of Semtex before or after I turn the door handle? -hiccup- "

Someone take the box set of Mission Impossible away from their equivalent of the State Department. They seemed to have taken it as inspiration or something. (gasp)

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

I think that question can be cleared up. Apparently it wasn't an armed safe as such.

Here's extracts from an update (released here local time 17:33, time of this post is 18:22) from a related article on novinky.cz at this page on their website.

As before, I'll give the original Czech in “ex” quotes then my translation.

Headline:

Explozi v rezidenčním bytě palestinského diplomata způsobil systém v trezoru

Translation:
Explosion in Residential Apartment of Palestinian Diplomat Caused by System in Safe

Subheading:

Výbuch, k němuž došlo ve středu odpoledne v pražském Suchdole v bytě palestinského velvyslance Džamála Muhammada Džamála, může neodborná manipulace s trezorem nebo samovolné spuštění výbušného systému po jeho otevření. Potvrdila to pražská policejní mluvčí Andrea Zoulová. Při explozi byl velvyslanec smrtelně zraněn, později zemřel v nemocnici.

Translation:
The explosion that occurred on Wednesday afternoon in Prague's Suchdol (Note: a suburb of Prague] in the apartment of Palestinian Ambassador Jamal Muhammad Jamal, could have been due to inexpertly operating the safe or a spontaneous triggering of an explosive system after it was opened. This was confirmed by Andrea Zoulová, spokesperson for the Prague Police. The Ambassador was mortally injured in the explosion and died later in hospital.
(End translation.)

Two extracts from the following text.

„Nebyl nalezen žádný nástražný výbušný systém,“ sdělila Zoulová. „V úvahu připadá nedbalostní manipulace s výbušným systémem případně samovolná iniciace,“ dodala s tím, že typ systému určí až expertiza.

Trezor byl podle ní při výbuchu silně poškozen.

“No protective explosive system was found,” Zoulová advised. “The case of inexpert handling of this/the explosive system cannot be ruled out, not can its spontaneous initiation,” she added, saying that the type of explosive system would be determined by experts.

She said the safe was heavily damaged by the explosion.
(End translation)

And:

„Tento systém se nacházel v trezoru a k jeho iniciaci došlo po otevření dvířek trezoru. Systém mohl být součástí vybavení příslušného trezoru,“ doplnila. Podle ní se v objektu ani v jiném místě žádné jiné výbušné systémy nenašly.

Translation:
“This system was inside the safe and it was initiated after the safe's door was opened. The system could have been part of the safe's actual equipment,” she added. She said that no other explosive system had been found, neither within the building or even in another place.
(End translation.)

I find it interesting that she says the explosive “system” was not there to guard or protect the safe, because it went off after the door had been opened. (“po otevření”, literally “after opening”) The use of “po” means “after”. If they had believed it exploded as the door was being opened, she would have used “při”, meaning “during opening”.
So, it seems there was an explosive device kept in the safe, but it wasn't there to protect the safe itself.

But she also says it could have been part of the safe's equipment. I mean, what??

Talk about fogging things up!!

And that makes me wonder why it was there at all.

Wheels within wheels, it seems.

reply to post by JustMike


True but how hard is it for them to check local news outlets? Google translate works wonders, and if you have Google Chrome it's even faster! I thank ya for doing the checking and translating for us, keeping ATS one step ahead of the English MSM!

I know you're posting as a member, not a staff, but since this isn't the work of terrorism, that we know of yet, it could be moved another forum if any other Mod sees fit.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Yeah I noticed that too, either the English writer is off or the editor is hung over! Either way, what can ya do?

I have to agree, I'm not familiar with safes, but come to think of it I don't know of any that have explosives attached to them! You'd think banks would incorporate such devices to thwart would be thieves... or do they?

Either way, what the hell was he planning on putting in that safe?

reply to post by JustMike


I can understand keeping the explosives locked up for obvious reasons, but if that's the case why the hell does he have explosives locked up? And if they weren't apart of the safe's security features then how did the explosives trigger after he opened the safe?

But as you've said, they're not yet sure whether it was a security feature or not. Talk about going back and forth!

reply to post by Swills

Google translate is generally not bad but it has its pitfalls, as it tends to miss some little details at times and they can be crucial ones. For example, this, that I quoted and translated earlier:

Pyrotechnici prohledávají i sousední dům v Suchdole, který rovněž patří palestinské ambasádě. Na místo zamířil také policejní prezident Martin Červíček. Ten v České televizi řekl, že podle jeho informací nebyl výbuch teroristickým útokem.

Google translate gives:
The bomb squad searched the neighboring house in Suchdol, which also includes the Palestinian embassy. The place was also police chief Martin Wormtail. The one in the Czech Television said that according to his information, the explosion was a terrorist attack.

The first sentence is ummm half okay. ETA: The house doesn't include the Embassy, it belongs to it (as that's what "patří" means here: "belongs to"). The Embassy itself is not even in the same Prague district. It's in Troja in Prague 7. These houses are in Suchdol, in Prague 6! But someone going by Google translate would think the Police searched a house that has the Embassy in it. That is simply untrue. (END ETA) The second is a bit hard to follow, and his surname has been translated and personal names should never be translated in reports like this. (But it's automated, so it gets translated. Not a big deal as the original name can be put back in afterwards.) However, the last phrase in the final sentence of the Google Trans version is completely wrong, because "nebyl výbuch teroristickým útokem" means "it was not a terrorist attack". The difference here is "nebyl" (was not) versus "byl" (was). Google translate did not pick up on that.

Just imagine if it went out on the wires that the Police Commissioner said it was a terrorist attack, when he expressly said it wasn't. In fact even now, there may be sites where they have only used G/translate and they'll be living under the belief that he said it was.

That's why I do my own translations. Czech only, though! I'm no good at any other language!

Oh, here's another gem:
„Nebyl nalezen žádný nástražný výbušný systém,“ sdělila Zoulová.

Google translate:
"There was no explosive booby system," said Zoulová.

An explosive booby system. The mind boggles.

Yes, I could have translated it to say the safe was not booby trapped, but as we have an international readership who might be puzzled by that phrase, I used a phrase which still gives the info but isn't so idiomatic.

As to whether the thread stays here or heads elsewhere, that's a matter for staff discussion and consensus.

reply to post by Swills

Exactly.

I talked to my wife about this just now. She's Czech and she's seen the news reports (on TV as well). Her opinion is "Je to stoprocentni bordel", which politely translated means it's an absolute mess. And for the same reason: if the explosive system may have been part of the safe's equipment, then how can they say they didn't find any protective system (booby trap)? The first statement is conditional, but their statement that they didn't find any booby trap is not. It's definitive.

Perhaps it's to help keep things muddled until the public forgets about it.

JustMike
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I think that question can be cleared up. Apparently it wasn't an armed safe as such.

Here's extracts from an update (released here local time 17:33, time of this post is 18:22) from a related article on novinky.cz at this page on their website.

As before, I'll give the original Czech in “ex” quotes then my translation.

Headline:

Explozi v rezidenčním bytě palestinského diplomata způsobil systém v trezoru

Translation:
Explosion in Residential Apartment of Palestinian Diplomat Caused by System in Safe

Subheading:

Výbuch, k němuž došlo ve středu odpoledne v pražském Suchdole v bytě palestinského velvyslance Džamála Muhammada Džamála, může neodborná manipulace s trezorem nebo samovolné spuštění výbušného systému po jeho otevření. Potvrdila to pražská policejní mluvčí Andrea Zoulová. Při explozi byl velvyslanec smrtelně zraněn, později zemřel v nemocnici.

Translation:
The explosion that occurred on Wednesday afternoon in Prague's Suchdol (Note: a suburb of Prague] in the apartment of Palestinian Ambassador Jamal Muhammad Jamal, could have been due to inexpertly operating the safe or a spontaneous triggering of an explosive system after it was opened. This was confirmed by Andrea Zoulová, spokesperson for the Prague Police. The Ambassador was mortally injured in the explosion and died later in hospital.
(End translation.)

Two extracts from the following text.

„Nebyl nalezen žádný nástražný výbušný systém,“ sdělila Zoulová. „V úvahu připadá nedbalostní manipulace s výbušným systémem případně samovolná iniciace,“ dodala s tím, že typ systému určí až expertiza.

Trezor byl podle ní při výbuchu silně poškozen.

“No protective explosive system was found,” Zoulová advised. “The case of inexpert handling of this/the explosive system cannot be ruled out, not can its spontaneous initiation,” she added, saying that the type of explosive system would be determined by experts.

She said the safe was heavily damaged by the explosion.
(End translation)

And:

„Tento systém se nacházel v trezoru a k jeho iniciaci došlo po otevření dvířek trezoru. Systém mohl být součástí vybavení příslušného trezoru,“ doplnila. Podle ní se v objektu ani v jiném místě žádné jiné výbušné systémy nenašly.

Translation:
“This system was inside the safe and it was initiated after the safe's door was opened. The system could have been part of the safe's actual equipment,” she added. She said that no other explosive system had been found, neither within the building or even in another place.
(End translation.)

I find it interesting that she says the explosive “system” was not there to guard or protect the safe, because it went off after the door had been opened. (“po otevření”, literally “after opening”) The use of “po” means “after”. If they had believed it exploded as the door was being opened, she would have used “při”, meaning “during opening”.
So, it seems there was an explosive device kept in the safe, but it wasn't there to protect the safe itself.

But she also says it could have been part of the safe's equipment. I mean, what??

Talk about fogging things up!!

And that makes me wonder why it was there at all.

Wheels within wheels, it seems.

edit on 1/1/14 by JustMike because: (no reason given)

First thank you for taking the time to translate. Next id have to say sounds like someone was storing explosives in there safe and screwed up. Maybe some c 4 and he was shuffling his feet across the carpet either way sounds like he wasnt the right guy to be handling them much less keeping them in a safe.

reply to post by JustMike


I suppose they could be trying to say that the explosive system wasn't originally part of the safe but was added afterward i.e. a technical way of trying to avoid saying booby trap, both built in to the original safe and added later via tampering.

Cough israel cough cough...
Putin has declared to destroy the terrorists, I sure hope he knows who the real target is.
The US for the major part never figured out who the real terrorists were.
Even as it stares and laughs in our faces...
I know where terrorism was born.

reply to post by g146541


Please! If the guy jury-rigged his own booby trap, it's not that hard to believe he also accidentally set it off.

What reason would the Israelis have to blow up random Palestinian ambassadors that no one else in the world has ever heard of? It's not like this man was or would be important in any upcoming negotiations. He was in Czechslovakia, not a critically important post as far as I am aware.

g146541
Cough israel cough cough...
Putin has declared to destroy the terrorists, I sure hope he knows who the real target is.
The US for the major part never figured out who the real terrorists were.
Even as it stares and laughs in our faces...
I know where terrorism was born.

No the mossad would have just grabbed him off the street thrown in a car and on his way to be interrogated.They wouldnt blow him up and even if it was decided he knew nothing and didnt require interrogation they would have just shot him in a mugging.Or like they did to the Iranians plant a bomb on his car using a motorcycle but not in his safe.And for reason could they have killing an ambassador of a non existent state. Sounds to me this guy was trying desperately to make himself seem important he was told in prague when you become a state we will consider putting an embassy there. Which apparently this geniuos thought that means yes and went on about how great of a diplomat he is and the embassy being built. Only to have them go well thats not what we meant we said we will consider it in the future.Hes such a poor diplomat didnt realize he was being blown off.

I'm going to reply to three posts together here. It's just so I don't clutter up the thread. They're all short replies, anyway.

reply to post by dragonridr

Agreed. But whatever the reasons why he had explosives in that safe, or why he was handling them, I doubt we the public are going to be told the whole story.

reply to post by ketsuko

That's a fair way of seeing it. I don't read it that way myself, as there is a conditional statement re the safe's equipment, versus a definitive one that no defensive system (ie booby trap) was found. I feel these conflicting statements are obfuscation on the part of the authorities.

reply to post by ketsuko

I'm of the same opinion, pretty much, except I'm not making any assumptions about who might have set up a booby trap -- if there was one and it wasn't just mishandling of explosives. But many embassies have military attaches and if any bombs had to be rigged I expect someone on the military side would handle that, rather than the Ambassador himself. Trouble is, if the Ambassador didn't then follow precise safety instructions from any expert involved, we could well get the result we've seen today.

Also, just btw and not a biggie by any means, but Czechoslovakia doesn't exist. It separated into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic (Slovakia for short) on 1/1/93. (Yes, today's their joint 21st birthday, ironically.)

reply to post by JustMike


Sorry about that. I forgot.

Either way, unless there are things going on there that we don't get fed here, it's not a critical post for a Palestinian ambassador. Either someone sent him there to keep him out of trouble or to pay him off. Either way, he's not a real mover or shaker, or he's the kind of guy who would accidentally set off explosives in his own safe ...

JustMike
reply to post by Swills

 

Her opinion is "Je to stoprocentni bordel", which politely translated means it's an absolute mess. And for the same reason: if the explosive system may have been part of the safe's equipment, then how can they say they didn't find any protective system (booby trap)?

That's what keeps throwing me too... Thank you very much for your translations. It seems to say it wasn't a security system related to the door opening or triggered by boobytrap, but are saying it was or may well have been a designed part of the safe itself?

Okay... Here is one possibility... What would you want to have detonate inside a safe, only after someone already made it through everything else ..so as to pretty much remove all chance of a false or stupid activation? They'd have to be good enough to actually open the door...and then.. surprise! ..?

I wonder if they had something designed to destroy contents by fire or whatever, as a last ditch measure to the clever Israeli or CIA Safe Cracker, and perhaps with what the Ambassador should have easily been able to turn off? It didn't or went bananas or whatever...and it did what it was designed to do, with far too much gusto?