Armed man infiltrates British Embassy compound in Tel Aviv

An armed Palestinian man burst into the British Embassy on Thursday demanding political asylum, saying in a dramatic interview on live television that he would rather die than return to the West Bank.

Photo: Armed man infiltrates British Embassy compound in Tel Aviv

Nadim Injaz, 28, a resident of the West Bank city of Ramallah and suspected informer for the Israeli security services, infiltrated the embassy in Tel Aviv by jumping a fence. He remained holed up inside the compound for several hours.

He said he was demanding asylum, fearing Palestinian militants will kill him, and threatened to commit suicide.

"They will either take me out of here to Europe, or as a body," Injaz, speaking Hebrew, told Channel 2 television. He said he was forced to take the dramatic step after Israeli authorities rebuffed repeated demands for help. "If no one comes to help me soon to save my life, I will finish myself here."

Injaz said militants in the West Bank told him that he would only be allowed to return to Ramallah if he carried out a suicide bombing. He said he chose this path instead.

"I don't want to kill children," he said in tears in a separate television interview with Channel 10 TV. "I want to be taken from here, I don't want to be here."

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man was armed with a pistol and police on the scene had made contact with him. Anti-terrorist units surrounded the site, reports AP.