Bulgarian authorities confirmed Thursday they had identified one of three suspects wanted in connection with the July bomb attack on Israeli tourists in the Black Sea city of Burgas.
Lead investigator Stanelia Karadzhova said only that he had “not lived in his country of origin for the past six years”, as police issued a warrant for his arrest. No other further information has as yet been released as to the suspect’s identify or nationality.
Revealing the latest police theories, she added that the attack which killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver was no longer considered to have been a deliberate suicide bombing as first thought, while police now explore the possibility the explosive device may have erupted accidentally or been remotely activated by foreign masterminds believed to be responsible for the attack.
Previous theories suggested by authorities alluded to the supposed architect of the attacks being an unsuspecting “drug mule” who was duped into carrying the explosive device by a terrorist organisation in lieu of what he thought ot be a delivery of drugs.
Terrorist groups, such as al Qaeda, have been known to select unsuspecting perpetrators for their missions, as well as choosing the seriously ill, drug-addicted or indebted in return for financial help for them and their vulnerable families.
The three suspects did not maintain any known contact with each other, but are all linked to the attack through false identification similar to the false US papers reportedly found on the suspect’s body at the scene by FBI investigating agents.
A week after the July 18 incident, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov appeared to give credence to this line of investigation, as he told a Bulgarian news agency.
“They came about a month before that, they changed leased vehicles, they moved in different cities so as not to be seen together, and no two of them can be seen in one place on any security camera,” seemingly confirming conjecture that a group and rather a lone individual was behind the attacks.
No arrests have been made in the six months since the deadly attacks, despite Israeli theories that Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah was behind the plot in its role as Iran’s proxy, a theory supported by close ally the US.
Bulgarian authorities have been keen to emphasise that all lines of investigation are being followed to their natural end, as they are aided by the CIA, the FBI and Israeli investigative services.
Last July, the European Union turned down a request by then Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who travelled especially to Brussels, to blacklist Hezbollah as a terror group after the Bulgaria bus attack.
Bulgaria is a an EU member state.
At the time, the Cyprus EU presidency said there was "no consensus" for such a decision among the 27 member states.The EU argument was that Hezbollah is a "political organisation" comprising a party as well as an armed wing and that it is "active in Lebanese politics" -- with representatives in the government and in parliament.
But the EU specified it would consider outlawing the Lebanese group "should there be tangible evidence of Hezbollah engaging in acts of terrorism."