CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Officials in Venezuela say a jailed councilman arrested on suspicion of involvement in a failed assassination attempt on President Nicolas Maduro has died of suicide.
The official claim is drawing a swift denial from Venezuelan opposition leaders close to Alberto Alban Salazar.
Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Monday that Salazar had been jailed since late last week. He represented a district in the Caracas area.
More than two dozen people have been jailed on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plot in early August to kill Maduro using two drones loaded with explosives.
Opposition leader Julio Borges said Salazar was a personal friend and cast doubts on the suicide claim.
Borges said that as a deep Catholic and family man Salazar would never consider killing himself.
