Bulgaria Identifies Anti-Israeli Bomber Accomplices
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Bulgaria released pictures Thursday of two suspected helpers of a bomber who blew up a bus packed with Israeli tourists last year, identifying them as an Australian and a Canadian.
"A year after the bomb attack on a bus with Israeli tourists that killed five Israelis and one Bulgarian citizen, the authorities are seeking public assistance for information on two people suspected of having links to the attack," the interior ministry said in a statement.
The two were identified as 32-year-old Australian Maliad Farah, also known as Hussein Hussein -- a bearded man with dark hair, thick black eyebrows and brownish eyes -- and 25-year-old Canadian Hassan El Hajj Hassan -- a man of lighter complexion, with a closely shaved head and a goatee.
Bulgaria had already announced that an Australian and a Canadian linked to the military wing of Hizbullah had aided the still unidentified bomber, who was killed at the scene of the July 18, 2012 attack at the Black Sea airport of Burgas.
The interior ministry said Thursday the men had been spotted several Black Sea resorts between June 28 and July 18 last year.
Prosecutors suspect them of registering in hotels and renting cars under three fake identities -- Brian Jeremiah Jameson, Jacque Philippe Martin and Ralph William Rico, it added.
Two identical counterfeit U.S. driver's licenses in the names of Martin and Rico were recovered by police shortly after the attack, both carrying traces that matched the DNA profile extracted from the remains of the bomber, allowing investigators to track down the people who used them and establish their link to the attack.
Israel blamed Iran and its Lebanese "terrorist proxy" Hizbullah for the bombing, the deadliest attack on Israelis abroad since 2004 and the first in a EU member state.
It took Bulgaria six months to make what it called a "justified conclusion" that Hizbullah was behind the attack.
More than a year on, the investigation is still bogged down by lengthy procedures for collecting witness testimony from Israel and legal assistance reports from abroad.
The case, however, played a role in the European Union decision on Monday to blacklist Hizbullah's military wing as a terrorist organization.
25 July 2013, 14:20
413
and hizbushaitan sheep will once more say: there is no eveidence. this is an Israeli..... bla bla bla.
hizbushaitan is an officially recognized terrorist organization and that is it.
25 July 2013, 15:48
10
NostraGeha, as you've confirmed, among pretty much everything that you confirm and which has proven to be... well... umm... duh... nothing but a big load of bull, there's indeed evidence, but the Bulgarians are... well... umm... duh... not sure about it. Now the Bulgarians are known to have the best jebneh bulghariyeh made of sheep milk, so there is a possibility that they could be hizbushaitan (bismil salib!) sheep that carry their fat in the sack on their behinds, without knowing it! I think you should bring that to their attention, perhaps then they can see the virtual reality that you live in! One expression I beg your elaboration on is "that is it" because it is not clear what the IT is that the IS is referred to by the THAT, so we can know what to expect from this "official" (perhaps you can also explain what official is, if you can find time) recognition. Thanks, Nostra.
26 July 2013, 02:12
02
Yeah; if anything, it's a shame that there has not been a single brave and honest Lebanese politician so far to have gone to the EU and requested this branding themself. After all, what do the Europeans know about just how much of a terrorist organization Hizb really are? Were any of the EU officials in Lebanon in December 2006 when, after all the Lebanese had for the most part fallen for the lie and supported Hizb in its war against Israel (which caused the most damages for all the rest of us who have nothing to do with Hizb; but still, as Lebanese we supported them naught withstanding), (cont'd below)
26 July 2013, 02:12
02
just when Lebanon most needed its tourism cash-cow to be able to get back enough money to repair the damages that the country incurred as a result of the Hizb thick-headedness vis-a-vis Israel (because Hizb only thinks about whether they would be beaten back or not; that over a thousand innocent Lebanese and foreign civilians should be killed as a result of their "adventures", that 15 years of taxpayers' renovation of the country's infrastructure should be wiped out within a few days - now why would an entity as caring about Lebanon as the Hizb think of that?); just when Lebanon was already in its most desperate means since 2000, what do Hizb do? Occupy Downtown. Tourism cash-cow raped and murdered, and Hizb-Iran puppies sat in the occupied downtown smoking arguilleh while the country's economy tipped over the brink and fell to Hell. Wallah 3afékon ya ashraf el nés! Wlik shu hil abadayét into!
25 July 2013, 15:48
37
who cares... everybody knew hizbullah is not as innocent as it claims... It is a big organization with its own intelligence agency, just like the mossad or CIA... only difference is Hizbullah targeted israeli civilians, not political figures, which makes them terrorists...
25 July 2013, 16:57
00
hey FT if you really believe what you are saying then you are nothing but an idiot .
25 July 2013, 17:47
37
hizbushaitan is an Iranian militia imposing its will on the Lebanese people. it is time they go.
I know it is not to your liking ft, but you had fun as long as it lasted. you follow this militia blindly, but you need to realize that the Lebanese people hate them and want them gone forever.
and believe me : that will happen. it will happen the same as for the Palestinians, the FL and the Syrians.
wether you like it or not.
25 July 2013, 18:12
16
Lawyer Antonis Georgiades noted that Yaacoub, who is Swedish and Lebanese, told a Cyprus court that he came to this country on business with no plan to harm anyone. But Yaacoub, 24, also admitted that an unidentified man in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, gave him the "mission" of recording flight arrivals and bus routes of Israeli tourists and checking out a hospital parking lot.
25 July 2013, 18:13
26
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A man being tried on allegations he planned attacks on Israeli tourists in Cyprus has admitted being a member of the militant group Hezbollah and staking out locations that such visitors frequent, his lawyer said Wednesday.
25 July 2013, 18:36
05
I think he should hire lebanese lawyer Shaker Hashem who will ask for his immediate release since no bloodshed was involved.
25 July 2013, 18:29
25
If Hussain Hussain and Hassan Hassan are so innocent, why don`t they come forth and explain what they did on various resorts in Bulgaria at that time. They wont of course, they are probably on goverment pension in Iran since their cover was blown. That payroll is getting bigger all the time because of all the botched assasination and terror attempts. Well, at least Iran dont have to give residency to the Hariri murder suspects since they are allowed to roam free in Dahiye.
26 July 2013, 01:58
01
No, not enough said per se. Enough said to prejudice audiences against the Shiite sect and to help make all Shiites, including those who are vociferously against the Hizb, look like they have something to do with it, like they are automatically guilty just because one of their co-religionists committed a major fail. Enough for Hasan N. to be laughing in his rathole as he wrings his hands together awaiting more Shiites to be attacked and to be running to him (and to Hizb) asking for help, since this article only establishes enough overly-generalized sweeping prejudice, not the nature of the culprits. Not all Shiites sell their rage to the highest Iranian bidder.
26 July 2013, 02:48
00
What was the motive behind the attack? Was it ever satisfactorily explained?
26 July 2013, 10:25
01
Listen to yourself FT... so Bulgaria or Greece's opinion is irrelevant... which country's opinion is relevant to you ya FT... China and Russia... the Pinnacles of truth, justice, equality and freedom...
Only your silly opinion is relevant to yourself. Thanks for the entertainment.
