Following Standoff, Turkish Embassy Hands Over Palestinian Hostage Taker

By Yaniv Kubovich (Haaretz) August 17, 2010

Security guards captured a Palestinian who entered the Turkish embassy in Israel on Tuesday trying to take hostages and demanding asylum, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The attacker, lightly wounded by gunfire in the legs, was still inside the building six hours after he broke in, with Israeli police and rescue services kept outside by Turkish embassy officials. Just before midnight, the man was released by the embassy officials and evacuated to a nearby hospital by ambulance.

“Our embassy guards neutralized the individual as he tried to take the vice consul as hostage after shouting around for asylum,” the statement said, adding he was armed with a knife, a gasoline can and a gun that turned out to be a toy.

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