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Argentina: fugitive ex-spy traveled to US

October 7, 2015

Argentina has claimed that a former Argentine spy chief flew to the US a month after a federal prosecutor was found executed. Buenos Aires suspects the US is providing refuge to the fugitive ex-spymaster.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GkCb
A demonstrator holds a sign of late prosecutor Alberto Nisman
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Pisarenko

Argentina's Ministry of Security said on Tuesday that a suspect in the murder of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman traveled to the US a month after the incident.

Antonio Stiuso, who served as head of operations for Argentina's disbanded Intelligence Secretariat, flew to Miami from Porto Alegre, Brazil on February 19.

The ministry added that Interpol provided the information after a "blue notice" was filed regarding Stiuso's whereabouts.

Argentina suspects the US is providing refuge for the fugitive after several inquiries on Stiuso's location submitted to Washington were left unanswered.

The former spy chief is suspected of involvement in the murder of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in January with a bullet to the head.

A woman holds up flowers and an image of late prosecutor Alberto Nisman
Nisman was found dead days after he accused President Fernandez of a cover-upImage: Reuters/M. Brindicci

Stiuso allegedly consulted with Nisman, who accused Argentine President Christina Fernandez of covering up Iran's purported role in a bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

The 1994 bombing left 85 people dead, marking one of the most fatal incidences of its kind in Argentina's modern history.

However, Fernandez and her ministers accused Stiuso of misleading Nisman into believing allegations that she was behind an attempted cover-up in a bid to destabilize the government.

Meanwhile, Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in the 1994 bombing.

Relations between Argentina and the US have hit a low-point since Fernandez's ascension to power as the Argentine president frequently uses anti-imperialist discourse against Washington.

ls/jr (Reuters, AP, EFE)