Exploding safe mystery deepens in Prague PT0M32S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-306jq 620 349 January 2, 2014 Prague: Czech investigators found unregistered weapons at the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Prague, police said on Thursday, a day after the ambassador was killed in a mysterious explosion after opening a safe. The Czech foreign ministry said it was concerned by the discovery, which it called a possible breach of diplomatic rules, and would demand an explanation. "We have gathered many pieces of evidence, we secured weapons that will be subject to expert evaluation," Prague police chief Martin Vondrasek said on Czech Radio. The residence of Palestinian ambassador, Jamal al-Jamal, who died in an explosion. "We can say the weapons have not gone through a registration process in the Czech Republic," he said, without revealing the quantity and type. Police reiterated they believed the blast that killed ambassador Jamal al-Jamal on New Year's Day may have been caused by mishandling an explosive that could have been securing the safe. They have said they are not treating it as an attack or a terrorist incident. Jamal suffered lethal injuries to his head, chest and abdomen. He had been in Prague only since October. Embassy spokesman Nabil el-Fahel said the safe was being used on a daily basis to store cash for the mission. The mission is in the process of moving into a new embassy and residence, which share the same compound. Jamal was killed at the new residence. Mr Fahel's account contradicted Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, who said the safe had not been used for two decades or more, possibly going back to the time when the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) maintained a mission in Prague. But Mr Fahel said embassy staff were not aware that any explosive mechanism was attached to the safe that Jamal opened. He later said on Czech Television he had no information on weapons being seized by police. But a Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the mission's staff in Prague had submitted the weapons to Czech authorities. He did not elaborate on the type of weapons involved, but said they had been retrieved from an old sack and had been untouched since Cold War times. The Czech foreign ministry said it was concerned by the discovery. It said diplomats' weapons were subject to local laws on arms, which require registration and licensing. "The ministry is concerned that among evidence...were weapons not registered in the Czech Republic," the ministry said in a statement. "In such case, the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations may have been breached and we will demand an explanation," it added, referring to the international rules that govern the activities of diplomats and embassies. Communist Czechoslovakia maintained friendly relations with the PLO in the 1980s, but the Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member country, has been supportive of Israel.