Two days after a deadly blast in a popular vacation spot killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian, investigators in Bulgaria and in several other countries were making steady progress in investigating the crime and closing in on the identity of the bomber. Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies had teams on the ground at the Black Sea resort of Burgas helping with the probe.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said Friday evening that the bomb had been carried in the backpack of a man caught on security cameras at Bulgas's Sarafovo Airport shortly before the blast there.
Tsvetanov said the bomb had detonated in the luggage compartment of the bus carrying Israelis from their newly landed plane to the terminal on Wednesday afternoon. The bomber was believed to have been about 36 years old and had been in the country between four to seven days, he said.
He later said in an interview with state TV that the blast was caused by 3 kilograms of TNT powder.
Bulgarian prosecutors said the attacker had short hair, not the long hair seen in the security video footage captured of him at the airport where the attack took place Wednesday afternoon. A witness said the man appeared to be wearing a wig.
The same man, according to eyewitnesses quoted on Israel's Channel 2 news, had been seen speaking to tourists at local beaches in the days before the attack. According to one eyewitness report, the man struck up a conversation with tourists from Holland, and told them that his mother was Dutch and his father was Iranian.
An analyst on Israel's Channel 2 suggested that the bombing may not have been a deliberate suicide bombing, but that the device may have detonated prematurely, killing the attacker.
Surprise!
Bulgarian authorities on Friday released an artist's sketch of a man believed to have helped the bomber.
Israeli and American officials have blamed the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah for Wednesday's bombing, which killed five vacationing Israelis, along with a Bulgarian bus driver and the attacker.
In a TV interviews Friday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he was certain who carried it out. "Hezbollah is behind the attack, it was part of a series of attacks," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV. "We know that Iran is behind it all. What we don't know is who the actual man is."
Though Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gloated over the attack on Thursday, Iran denied responsibility for the attack,
"Wudn't us."
which threatened to further escalate a shadow war between the two countries over allegations that Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Security camera footage from before the attack showed the suspected bomber wandering in and out of the terminal, wearing a baseball cap over long hair, a T-shirt and plaid shorts, with a bulky backpack.
Bulgarian prosecutors said the man tried to rent a car in the days before the bombing but was turned down because his ID appeared suspicious. Authorities have examined his fingerprints, his DNA and his fake Michigan driver's license.
They also said the man actually had short hair. It was not clear if he was wearing a wig, or if he had a haircut after the airport footage was taken.
Afrodita Petrova, the owner of the car rental company, told Bulgarian National TV that the suspect had short dark hair when visiting the office. She said he was the same person from the video camera footage and appeared to be wearing a wig.
"He spoke English with an Arab accent," she said.
Tsvetanov said the investigation had ruled out that the bomber was a Bulgarian citizen, but did not say how authorities know that. He said the investigation had also ruled out that the bomber was Mehdi Ghezali, a Swedish citizen and former Guantanamo detainee whom authorities had previously fingered as the bomber.
Israel has officially issued a complaint with the UN Security Council, accusing Iran of responsibility for the attack. Israeli representative Haim Waxman wrote the Security Council president that the attack in Bulgaria was part of an international terrorist campaign against Israelis and Jews worldwide, led by Iran and Hezbollah.
Bulgarian authorities have established that a Hezbollah terror cell orchestrated last Wednesdays bombing on a bus at Burgas airport in which five Israelis and the Bulgarian bus driver were killed, Israels Channel 2 news reported on Saturday night.
There is a concern that members of the cell have fled Bulgaria, possibly overland to Turkey.
The authorities distributed an artists sketch on Friday of a man they believed had helped the bomber, but they now believe the man in the sketch may have been the bomber himself, the report added.
Bulgarias Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said on Saturday there may have been a second man directly involved in the bombing. We have not ruled that out.
With assistance from Israeli Mossad and Shin Bet teams, and other intelligence agencies, the Bulgarians were reported to be analyzing remnants of the bomb a homemade device comprising 3 kg. of TNT in order to determine its origin.
Continued on Page 47
[An Nahar] German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle ruled out any renegotiation of Greece's budget austerity program in an interview published Saturday.
"I see desires emerging in Greece to renegotiate and substantially question the country's obligations to carry out reforms. I have to say simply, that will not do. It is a Rubicon that we are not going to cross," Westerwelle told the daily Bild.
He called on Athens to clearly demonstrate that it wanted to remain in the Eurozone. "Greece must not just say that it wants to stay in the Eurozone, but must also implement a clear policy of reforms and keep its commitments," he added.
On Wednesday Greece's Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras admitted the crisis-hit country still had "some way to go" to finalize 11.5 billion euros ($14 billion) in spending cuts demanded by its EU-IMF creditors in return for fresh loans.
Auditors from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank -- the so-called troika of Greek creditors -- are expected in Athens next week for another in-depth inspection of the new government's economic program.
The troika's report will determine whether Greece will receive fresh loans of 31.5 billion euros by September due under its debt rescue program.
Continued on Page 47
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[YNet News] Bulgaria's foreign ministry dismisses Qaedat al-Jihad's claim of responsibility for Burgas attack aligning itself with Israeli, US estimates pointing finger at Iran, Hezbollah
[Jerusalem Post] A previously unknown terrorist group grabbed credit Saturday for the terror attack against an Israeli tour bus in Burgas last week while Bulgarian security authorities were reportedly searching for additional suspects involved in the bombing.
Five Israelis and a Bulgarian driver were killed in the attack and dozens more were maimed. Israel and the United States have accused Hezbollah of perpetrating the attack but on Saturday a group called "Base of Jihad" grabbed credit for the attack.
Bulgarian police have published pictures of the suspected bomber who was carrying forged US identification and has yet to be identified.
"With Allah's help and after close surveillance one of us succeeded in blowing up a Jewish bus in Bulgaria," the group said in a statement that appeared on a Lebanese news site. The previously-unknown group could be connected to global jihad or being used as a cover by Hezbollah.
Bulgaria's Focus News Agency quoted a spokesperson of the country's foreign ministry as denying that the group carried out the attack.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said last week that Israel had solid evidence that Hezbollah, in "close cooperation with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards", was responsible for the attack.
Meanwhile Saturday, the investigation into the bombing continued with Bulgarian, Israeli and American cooperation. Interpol is also said to be playing an active role in the probe. CNN reported Saturday that eyewitnesses identified a second suspect who might have assisted the bomber and described him as having short hair and speaking English with a "distinct" accent.
This would be a different man than the one shown in the photos and video released by Bulgarian authorities. That man has long hair. According to the report, the second suspect might be American. On Friday, Bulgarian Police began distributing a sketch of the alleged accomplice in hopes that the public could help them in the investigation.
Bulgarian Sherlocks said on Friday that they had managed to obtain DNA samples from the fingers of the bomber and were checking databases in an attempt to identify him. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov told parliament he hoped that would be done in 3-4 days.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Friday that Israel was certain that the attack was carried out by Hezbollah. Defense officials said that it was possible that the cell behind the attack crossed into Bulgaria from Turkey or even consisted of local Moslems who were recruited into the Lebanese-based organization.
"It is clear that Hezbollah is behind the attack as part of the series of events that we have seen over the past few weeks and months," Barak said. "At the same time we do not know who the bomber is but we can tell that he looks European."
Barak also rejected claims that the attack represented an intelligence failure for Israel. "There is no country whose intelligence gathering capabilities have a wider range than Israel's...I don't think we have anything to apologize for," the defense minister said.
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German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle ruled out any renegotiation of Greece's budget austerity program in an interview published Saturday.
