Bulgaria blames Hezbollah for deadly anti-Israeli bomb

Sofia, Feb 6 (AFP) Bulgaria has blamed Hezbollah for a July 2012 bomb attack that killed five Israeli tourists, leading to renewed calls on the EU to declare the Lebanese movement a "terrorist" organisation. "What we can make as a justified conclusion is that the two persons whose identity we have established belonged to the military wing of Hezbollah," Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told reporters yesterday. He said they "had Canadian and Australian passports but have resided in Lebanon since 2006 and 2010." The investigation made the conclusions on the basis of three fake drivers' licenses -- made in Lebanon -- from the US state of Michigan used by the bomber and suspected accomplices between their entry into EU member Bulgaria on June 28 and the July 18 attack. "From these three fake personalities, we established beyond doubt two persons' real identity. ... We traced their whole activity on the territories of Australia and Canada and we have data for funding and complicity with Hezbollah," he added. Canada confirmed that a suspect linked to the bomb attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria is a dual Canadian-Lebanese national and said it takes allegations of his involvement "very seriously." Five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver were killed in the bus bombing at Bulgaria's Black Sea Burgas airport in the deadliest attack on Israelis abroad since 2004. Some 30 Israelis were also wounded in the attack, in which the bomber also perished. Bulgarian investigators managed to recover DNA and fingerprints from his remains along with the fake driver's license in the name of Jacque Felipe Martin. The young Caucasian-looking man was also caught on airport cameras resembling a holidaymaker, wearing shorts and carrying a backpack. His computer-generated image and DNA data were run through Interpol databases but failed to find any match. Israel immediately blamed Iran and its "terrorist proxy" Hezbollah for the bombing, but Bulgarian investigators had stopped short of pointing the finger at anyone until now. Tehran has also denied any involvement. Israel and the United States have long pressed Brussels to blacklist Hezbollah, and yesterday both reiterated their stance, as did Canada. (AFP) HAZ 02061403 NNNN