Fernandez sets up Federal Agency and slams Nisman's complaint

In a nation-wide broadcast, Fernandez, who appeared in a wheelchair and dressed entirely in white, linked the death of Nisman with the agreement signed with Iran in 2013 and the bomb attack against the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which left 85 dead twenty years ago.

The bombing still remains unsolved although from the beginning it was suspected that the Lebanese Shiite group, Hezbollah, carried out the attack at the behest of Iran.

For an hour, the president attempted to dismantle the arguments of Nisman's complaint and spoke in detail about the bill that she will send to parliament to dissolve the Intelligence Secretariat and replace it by a federal agency.

The announcement comes in the midst of an unprecedented political storm with Fernandez linking the death of Nisman to a conspiracy to destabilize the government and point directly to recently fired intelligence officers.

According to Fernandez, the Intelligence Secretariat "bombed" the agreement reached with Iran in 2013 which would have speeded up the investigation into the AMIA bomb attack since it facilitated the interrogation of suspects in Iran.

The latest charge against Fernandez was by Nisman who denounced her for allegedly covering-up those involved in the bombing on Jan. 14, five days before the prosecutor was found dead at his home with a bullet wound to the head which appeared to be suicide.

"The attack was 21 years ago and someone with a baseless complaint said that we wanted to divert attention and hide the Iranians over the sale of grains," added.

Fernandez said that she learned of Nisman's death early Monday morning from the Minister of Security and provided new data on Diego Lagomarsino, Nisman's assistant who provided him with the gun with which he allegedly shot himself and who was imputed Monday.

Lagomarsino is a computer scientist hired by Nisman and described by Fernandez as a fierce opponent of the government who tried to renew his passport on Jan. 14, the same day on which the prosecutor filed the complaint against the president.

While the political storm has been growing, the investigation into the death of Nisman appears to be progressing slowly and without conclusive results, with the imputation of Lagomarsino and contradictory statements from Nisman's bodyguards. EFE

Fernandez also linked Lagomarsino to a media conglomerate which has tussled with her government in the past, identifying him as "the brother of an important executive associated with the Clarin Group."

However, in a statement Clarin Group denied the link and said that Lagomarsino's brother "never worked, nor has any link" with the media company.