Bulgaria Implicates Hezbollah in Deadly Israeli Bus Blast

[oberliner]

SOFIA, Bulgaria — The Bulgarian government said on Tuesday that two of the people behind a deadly bombing attack that targeted an Israeli tour bus six months ago were believed to be members of the military wing of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The announcement could force the European Union to reconsider whether to designate the group as a terrorist organization and crack down on its extensive fund-raising operations across the continent. That could have wide-reaching repercussions for Europe’s uneasy détente with the group, which is an influential force in Middle East politics, considers Israel an enemy and has extensive links with Iran.

Bulgaria’s interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said at a news conference that the investigation into the bombing in Burgas in July 2012 found that a man with an Australian passport and a man with a Canadian passport were two of the three conspirators involved in the attack, which claimed the lives of five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver.

Bulgarian investigators had “a well-founded assumption that they belonged to the military formation of Hezbollah,” Mr. Tsvetanov said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/world/europe/bulgaria-implicates-hezbollah-in-deadly-israeli-bus-blast.html?pagewanted=all

[zellie]

1. Seriously ?

"The announcement could force the European Union to reconsider whether to designate the group as a terrorist organization and crack down on its extensive fund-raising operations across the continent. "

For some reason I don't think that going to happen. The EU doesn't want to have insult their benefactors.

[bemildred]

2. Seems long on speculation and short on facts.

Hezbollah is an obvious candidate for the perp., but there are lots of other possibilities, and as the guy says, it's a bit out of character.

[azurnoir]

3. what a timely report

and such a well founded conclusion, wonder what the foundations were?

[oberliner]

4. 927mag should invesigate

I'm sure they can get to the bottom of this.

[azurnoir]

5. well that is a possibility but the EU would be more proper

especially at this juncture in time

[shaayecanaan]

20. Or the Gatestone Institute (nt)

[Jefferson23]

6. Hezbollah says bombing allegations are Israeli smear campaign

BEIRUT (Reuters) -- Hezbollah dismissed on Wednesday Bulgaria's accusation that it carried out a bomb attack that killed five Israeli tourists last year, saying Israel was waging a smear campaign against it.

Deputy Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Israel was directing "allegations and incitements and accusations against Hezbollah" because it had failed to defeat it militarily.

Bulgaria said on Tuesday the Lebanese movement was behind the bombing on a bus in the Black Sea city of Burgas that killed five Israeli tourists in July.

The conclusions of the investigation, citing a clear connection to an attack on European Union soil, might open the way for the EU to join the United States in branding Hezbollah a terrorist organisation.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for action if it emerges that there is solid evidence linking Hezbollah to the attack.

"Chancellor Angela Merkel completely condemns the disgraceful attack in Burgas," her spokesman said. "If there is confirming evidence that Hezbollah is responsible for this detestable attack, there must be consequences."

Qassem said Hezbollah, which fought an inconclusive 34-day war with Israel in 2006 and is now a powerful part of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government, would not change course or be deflected by the charges.

"Israel is leading an international campaign to intimidate people and countries against Hezbollah," he told religious students in southern Beirut.

"All these accusations against Hezbollah will have no effect, and do not change the facts," Qassem said. "We will not submit to these pressures and we will not change our priorities. Our compass will remain directed towards Israel."

Mikati has said his government is ready to cooperate with Bulgaria in investigating the attack.

http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=562838

[oberliner]

8. Perhaps Hezbollah is frustrated by its own weakness

Hezbollah, a growing body of evidence suggests, is back in the business of international operations after a long hiatus -- striking out not only at military or official targets of its sworn enemies, but also, this time, at civilians. Bulgarian officials said on Tuesday that they could connect Hezbollah to the July 2012 bombing at a Black Sea resort that killed six civilians (five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver) along with one attacker. The results of Bulgaria's investigation, if they bear out, add credence to a pattern that has slowly taken shape over the last seven years, ever since Hezbollah was first indicted for a political assassination in Lebanon and later accused of strikes on Israeli targets abroad. The Party of God, once eager to forswear tactics considered terrorist, appears to be tilting back into their embrace. The culmination of this transformation, or return to origins, could have serious consequences.

Observers of Hezbollah have kept track of the organization's enduring ability to strike beyond Lebanon's borders and its deep connections in Western diaspora communities. Still, Bulgaria's claim that two of the alleged Hezbollah operatives carried real Western passports, from Canada and Australia, provides hard evidence. US officials have always worried about Hezbollah operatives with Western passports, but have never made any credible claims about the number of cells with military training that are believed to reside outside Lebanon.

The deliberate investigation of the Bulgaria bombing could heighten alarm about Hezbollah. Last year Hezbollah was accused in plots against Israeli targets around the globe, some foiled ahead of time (Bangkok, Baku), some botched in execution (India, Georgia), and some lethal, like the one in Bulgaria. Perhaps Hezbollah is frustrated by its own weakness; since 2008, it has sworn to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Hezbollah's military mastermind, Imad Mughniyeh. Yet more than four years have passed, and Hezbollah has failed in any plots against high-profile Israeli targets. Hence, perhaps, the targeting of Israeli holidaymakers instead.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/with-the-burgas-bombing-hezbollah-returned-to-its-roots/272928/

[oberliner]

10. This headline is BS

He does not mention Bulgaria or the bombing attack anywhere in the statement.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Feb-07/205404-qassem-dismisses-bulgaria-charges-accuses-israel-o.ashx#axzz2KCFY4Npg

“Israel is leading a global campaign to confront the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine. Israel is leading an international campaign to intimidate people and countries against Hezbollah because it failed in the [2006] aggression against it and also failed in inciting people against it,” Qassem said during a meeting with religious students in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

However, he did not make a direct reference to the Bulgarian accusations.

[Jefferson23]

25. There's a significant void regarding the message of what your post displays and

the headline of my OP? I don't think so, but whatever, oberliner.

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. what a shocking result, I truly can't believe it

"With help from the United States and Israel, investigators here broke the case...Israeli forensic experts descended on the scene. American investigators joined in as well."

Who could have imagined that result with this cast and crew "investigating" the matter?

[oberliner]

9. Why would Israeli investigators want to help investigate the bombing of Israeli tourists abroad?

Crazy, huh?

[Alamuti Lotus]

21. putting aside the automated spin control for just a moment..

...(and I realize, setting that aside for any more than a brief moment is really expecting too much)... Does it not strike you as a little convenient that the US/Israeli "investigative team" managed to point the finger at one of their enemies? Can't defeat them on the battlefield, so sling a few accusations around instead. The opposition in Bulgaria has noted that the government had already decided on this outcome very early on (maybe they're just antisemites and really, really love terrorism and hate puppies and America), perhaps with a little pressure or incentive from US/Israeli officials.

[shaayecanaan]

11. Bulgarian opposition blasts Burgas bombing charge

The US and Israel are using the accusations leveled against Hezbollah in the 2012 Burgas bus bombing to pressure the EU into including the resistance group on its terrorist list. But the Bulgarian opposition is crying foul.

Israeli and US pressure on Bulgarian authorities to formally accuse Hezbollah as the organization behind the 18 June 2012 bus bombing in the city of Burgas – in which six people, including five Israelis, were killed – has not been entirely successful.

They have succeeded in pressuring the Bulgarian investigators probing the bombing to link the attack to Hezbollah. This has been done in such a way as to strike a compromise between the hardline stances of Israel and the US, and the cautious position of European countries, who do not see it in their interest to up the ante against Hezbollah at this juncture.

The announcement was quickly challenged by Sergei Stanishev, leader of Bulgaria’s parliamentary opposition and the head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, who charged that finger-pointing against Hezbollah was unfounded and politically motivated.

“It is obvious that Bulgaria’s government has chosen a political approach and is only repeating the interpretation alleged by Israel on the very next day following the attack, when the investigation had not even started,” he said, as quoted by the Sofia News Agency.

“The investigation is currently underway, and there is no way one can be talking about decisive evidence regarding the direct perpetrators, much less regarding the organization that is behind this tragic event,” Stanishev added.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/bulgarian-opposition-blasts-burgas-bombing-charge

[azurnoir]

12. Thanks I thought this quite interesting

In his public reaction to the announcement, Mikati reiterated Lebanon’s readiness to cooperate with the Bulgarian authorities “to shed light on the circumstances” of the incident, while stressing its condemnation of all such attacks in any European or Arab country.

or at least some other option will be in place

[shaayecanaan]

17. Even more interesting

Apparently this guy (white, skinny, long hair):-



is actually this guy (stocky, Arab, close cropped hair)



Apparently, his brilliant disguise included a wig (the last photo on the right).

No idea how he managed to change his skin colour though, even Michael Jackson would be proud of that.

[azurnoir]

18. Not to mention facial shape

the guy in the drawing appears to have a much rounder face and a bit of a double chin too, making it appear he could be a bit heavier than the guy in photo

[shaayecanaan]

23. Sorry, might have misspoke

Apparently, there were two fake US drivers licences, for both the bomber and his alleged accomplice.

One white guy



and one Arab guy

http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=200963

Apparently they are both of Lebanese background, one is a Canadian citizen and the other an Australian.

The white guy still doesn't look like a Leb to me.

Also, the Bulgarians claim that the bomber was in another Bulgarian town prior to the bombing, although Israel claims that they detected unusual "chatter" between Burgas and Lebanon in that same time frame.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=147655
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4266437,00.html

Hezbollah usually maintains fairly decent communications security, so it would be unusual for them to do much talking on the phone. And if Israel actually knew the phone contacts for Hezbollah members in Lebanon, I doubt that they would be telling the newspapers about it.

[oberliner]

13. I'm sure they will devote themselves to finding the real killers

Perhaps they can get OJ to assist them.

[azurnoir]

14. would you be more comfortable if Michel Suleiman had

made the offer?

[oberliner]

16. I have no idea what this means

You are making references way way over my head.

[azurnoir]

19. Mikati is considered Hezbollah's man in the Lebanese government

where as Suleiman not so much or more the opposition

[Alamuti Lotus]

22. as an aside...

That's not so much the case, really; see: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon-hezbollah-and-president

[oberliner]

15. Bulgaria Says It Came to Hezbollah Assumption in Mid-January

It was in January 2013 when Bulgarian authorities came to their "well-founded assumption" that Hezbollah may have been involved in last year's terror attack in Burgas last year, according to Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

Tsvetanov told reports on Thursday that Bulgarian authorities received information pointing to Hezbollah in mid-January.

The Interior Minister refuted claims made by the opposition that the report on the July 18 bus bombing "came too late."

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=147639

[shaayecanaan]

24. Europe's Hezbollah problem

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/02/06/europe_s_hezbollah_problem_bulgaria_bombing?page=0,1

But perhaps it's Germany that best illustrates Europe's split-personality toward Hezbollah. Germany seems to tolerate Hezbollah's operations in its country. There are reportedly some 950 Hezbollah members and supporters on German soil. The group's organizational structure in Germany allows the group to raise funds and transfer them to Lebanon. Yet Germany, in a little-noticed 2008 Interior Ministry administrative order, banned Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar from broadcasting in private hotels and buying advertisements to promote its programming.

The EU is all over the map, but there appears to be mushrooming pressure to penalize Hezbollah. In August 2012, before the Bulgaria report, Missfelder said that it was "long overdue to place Hezbollah on the EU's list of terror organizations." Hezbollah's role in aiding the Syrian regime in its bloody crackdown on pro-reform Syrians has changed attitudes among center-left politicians. Germany's Green Party spokesman on security issues, Omid Nouripour, told the New York Times in early February that "in the situation now, with Syria, I think it's now time to isolate Hezbollah."

Bloodshed in Syria is not the top concern of European politicians, however, most of whom are wary of overextending the EU's influence in a time of fiscal crisis and political instability. In fact, for some EU countries, even an attack on EU soil may not qualify as a predicate to act. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who seems to be against listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, tweeted that "[w]e need to reflect seriously on consequences of Bulgaria probe naming Hezbollah as behind terrorist attack."

A ban on Hezbollah could cripple it. Hezbollah‘s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged this reality several years ago, noting that an EU terror listing "would dry up the sources of finance, end moral, political and material support, stifle voices, whether they are the voices of the resistance or the voices which support the resistance, pressure states which protect the resistance in one way and another, and pressure the Lebanese state, Iran and Iraq, but especially the Lebanese state, in order to classify it as a state which supports terrorism."

The Bulgarian investigation, however, is unlikely to result in such sweeping sanction. The consensus solution would likely be an EU terror listing of Hezbollah's military wing. This designation could curtail Hezbollah's ability to operate in the EU, or further embolden it to carry out attacks on European soil.

Whatever the outcome, Burgas is almost certainly not the last tango for Hezbollah in Europe.