Argentine President Now Says Prosecutor’s Death Was Not a Suicide

BUENOS AIRES — Confronted with a deepening scandal, the president of Argentina abruptly reversed herself on Thursday, saying that the death of a prosecutor investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center was not a suicide as she and other government officials had asserted.

The change of position by the president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, added a major new twist into the death of the prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in his luxury apartment in Buenos Aires late Sunday of a gunshot wound to the head.

Mr. Nisman has long accused Iran of planning and financing the attack, which left 85 people dead. But this month he intensified his claims, accusing Mrs. Kirchner and top aides of trying to subvert his 10-year investigation into the bombing — allegations that the government has flatly rejected.

There have been no arrests in the case.

Jonathan Gilbert reported from Buenos Aires, and Rick Gladstone from New York.

The New York Times