Netanyahu Accuses Hizbullah of Bulgaria Attack as FBI Joins Probe

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Bulgarian investigators worked with the FBI and Interpol Thursday to identify the suicide attacker behind a deadly bombing on a bus carrying Israeli tourists, as Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack "was perpetrated by Hizbullah" and Iran denied involvement.

The attack "was perpetrated by Hizbullah, Iran's leading terrorist proxy," said Netanyahu, describing the Lebanese group as "the long arm of Iran."

The bombing was part of "a global campaign of terror carried out by Iran and Hizbullah" which had reached "a dozen countries on five continents," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the public radio that "it's Hizbullah helped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that is responsible for this suicide attack. This is proven information."

He indicated that Israel was facing a "global terrorist war financed and organized by Iran."

Lieberman said the latest toll he was aware of was five Israelis killed and three wounded. He said a sixth person had been killed in addition to the suicide bomber.

Lieberman's deputy Danny Ayalon, called for the European Union to "add the bloodthirsty Hizbullah to its list of terrorist organizations."

But he also said the Jewish state would submit a complaint to the United Nations Security Council and would "avoid reacting in a hot-headed manner, and carefully consider its response because all the pieces of the puzzle must be put in place."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak also pointed the finger at Iran and Hizbullah.

Israel is confronting a "global wave of terror" sponsored by Iran,” he told public radio.

"We are facing a global wave of terror... the attack in Burgas was led by members of Hizbullah and sponsored by Iran," Barak said.

"The al-Qaida and Islamic Jihad networks also operate globally," he added, citing a long list of recent attacks or attempted attacks on Israelis around the world.

Barak said Israel's intelligence services were working with partners overseas to share information about potential attacks.

"There are often very big successes, but it doesn't always work and we must continue to live. We will do everything possible to track down the perpetrators and instigators of the Burgas attack and punish them," he added.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu publicly accused Tehran and Hizbullah of involvement in the attack.

"All the signs point to Iran," Netanyahu said in a statement, which said the blast was the latest in a string of attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other places.

And in a phone call with Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Netanyahu "indicated that Iran and Hizbullah were conducting a global terror campaign against Israelis across the world," a statement from his office said.

U.S. President Barack Obama described the blast as a "barbaric terrorist attack."

"The suicide bomber, wearing shorts and carrying a backpack, looked like any other tourist," said Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

A video released showed a white man with long hair -- possibly a wig -- and sunglasses wandering around the airport in Burgas. Tsvetanov said he appeared to be aged around 26 and that he had a fake driving license from the U.S. state of Michigan.

The authorities had his fingerprints and had enlisted the help of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Interpol and Europol, to discover his identity, the minister said.

The explosion ripped through the bus as around 50 Israeli tourists arriving from Tel Aviv on a plane carrying 154 people were loading their bags and boarding before traveling to a nearby Black Sea holiday and gambling resort.

Five tourists were killed at the scene while the Bulgarian driver died later in hospital, officials said. Another 30 people were wounded.

Witnesses described how panicked passengers jumped from bus windows and bodies lay strewn on the ground with their clothes torn off as ambulance sirens wailed and black smoke rose over the airport.

"I would have lost my life in a split second, had I not jumped out of the bus's window," survivor Moshe Moseri told the Israeli news website Walla, describing scenes of horror with "corpses on the floor with their arms and legs severed".

Obama said the United States, Israel's staunchest ally, "will stand with our allies, and provide whatever assistance is necessary to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack".

Iranian state television said Israel's "ridiculous" accusations were "aimed at creating an anti-Iranian atmosphere" amid rising tensions over Tehran's nuclear drive which the West suspects is aimed at building the atomic bomb.

"The Zionist regime, which is responsible for terrorist acts organized in Lebanon, Palestine and against the Iranian nuclear scientists... is launching baseless accusations against other countries to forget its own terrorist nature," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The bomber struck on the 18th anniversary of an attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina that killed 85 people, also blamed on Iran.

Wednesday's attack, the deadliest against Israelis abroad since 2004, also drew strong condemnation from France, Britain, Russia and other governments.

More than 30 wounded Israelis, including teenagers, arrived back in Tel Aviv Thursday after being flown home by the Israeli air force.

Those who left Bulgaria included a pregnant woman and a girl of around seven or eight years old who was carrying her flip-flop because her right foot was wrapped in bandages.

Burgas airport opened again at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) under heavy security, with all traces of the attack removed, although the site remained off-limits behind police tape, Agence France Presse reported.

A cordon was set up 500 meters (yards) from the airport building where people had to have all bags checked, and no hand luggage was being allowed on flights.

The charred skeleton of the bus was loaded on to a truck and taken away, as was an adjacent bus that also caught fire in the blast and which had a large blood stain down its side.

Israel and former communist Bulgaria, which has a 13-percent Muslim population, enjoy good relations and the Black Sea coast has become a popular holiday spot for Israelis, with almost 140,000 visiting the country in 2011.

In January, Israeli public television reported that authorities in European Union member Bulgaria had foiled a bomb attack when they found an explosive device on a bus chartered to take Israeli tourists to a ski resort.

Comments 29
Missing un520 19 July 2012, 11:45

God help Lebanon if this turns out to be true. Has Hizbollah finally given Israel the excuse it needs to start their final solution in Lebanon? I dont doubt that Nasrallah has some nasty surprises for Israel this time, but unfortunately I believe Israel has many of them as well.

Thumb primesuspect 19 July 2012, 13:58

Well... attacking civilians in Bulgaria (country we're not at war with) is an act of terrorism.... and if HA was truly behind this an Israeli response would be what they desire in order to create a war.

Thumb thepatriot 19 July 2012, 15:06

Absolutely. Hezb are only good at targeting civilians... they can do nothing else... is this why they need their weapons...?

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 16:07

Naharnet
you removed my post whereby there are no insults, rather it was an analysis.
even if you think my analysis of what will happen is not to your liking, your censorship of such a comment is not warranted.

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 16:12

furthermore, I retirate my analysis:
- there will be a major war with israel, that will destroy Lebanon to a degree unseen before with the blessing of all countries.
- hizbushaitan is responsible for the upcoming destruction, being in the syro/iranian axis of evil, without the agreement of the majority of the Lebanese.
- in 2006, the refugees from the south went to syria (which they will not be able to do this time round), or came to our regions (which is out of the questions too), so where will they go?
hizbushaitan is responsible for all the deaths of destructions to come, and do not expect us to pay for repairing their destroyed villages, nor expect the Arabs to do so, especially after all the ingratitude of hizbushaitan and aoun towards them.
let them deal with what they did...

Thumb bigsami 19 July 2012, 17:28

You state on several of your post about "democratic" this and that but little does a mastoul like you know the meaning of democracy. One thing for sure is that DEMOCRACY is taboo in HA book of rules & you are clueless about it to say the least. I'm surprised you even have the literacy to use the internet.

Thumb bigsami 19 July 2012, 18:01

You crack me up bonehead! You state >>>>>>> when i use the term democracy, it's to remind YOU of the 'values' you follow, which are democratic values" Please enlighten me of these democratic values that your beloved HA preach. You think assassinating, killing, threatening, robbing, suppressing, stoning, intimidation constitute "values"? Idiot!

Thumb bigsami 19 July 2012, 18:04

Yes and we can see why your not a fan of democracy. Like a typical sheep you need someone to direct you to your stall. Like zombie with his umbilical cord hanging waiting for someone to plug him in. Your just a waste of space on this planet.....you and your followers!

Default-user-icon mazen (Guest) 19 July 2012, 12:22

Let's see where the investigations lead to.. for sure it is not Al Qaida, as it is an arm of the Mossad.. Nor the Salafists, as they are financed by israel's friends.. maybe one of the tourists blew him/her self up? out of protest?

Default-user-icon mazen (Guest) 19 July 2012, 13:02

dragged into a war??? have u people not learned anything?? Israel does not need an excuse!! they engage in war when the moment is right for them.. What is keeping them from doing so, is the fact that Hizbullah is too powerful. Can you not just rise a bit above your bigotry and hatred that blinds you from the general picture? It is not the weapons of hizbullah that is the problem, it is ISRAEL. As long as we are in a state of war with Israel, Hizbullah's weapons are JUSTIFIED!! Otherwise let us arm our army. No one is willing to supply our army with weapons. We have no other options.

Thumb extramildcake 19 July 2012, 13:16

It is a joke to believe that Israel only attacks Lebanon if Hezbollah attacks it first. It is also a joke to believe that Hezbollah will bother killing Israelis in Bulgaria. We have enough problems here in Lebanon. Do some people actually believe Hezbollah has time to attack Israelis in Bulgaria? What a joke.

Missing un520 19 July 2012, 13:43

re extramildcake
Is it a joke that Iranian and Lebanese shia affilliated with Hizbollah has been caught red handed in Georgia, Thailand, Kenya, Cyprus recently. Is it a joke when Hizbollah wows revenge over the death of Imad Mugniyeh?
Why on earth wouldnt Hizbollah have time to attack Israelis in Bulgaria? They sure as helll cant kill any Israelis in Lebanon. What is taking their precious time?
You should join the Boutros Harb-case investigators, sounds like you got the right qualities. They dont have the time, so they can not have done it....lol..

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 13:56

for all purposes, it can be hizbushaitan or not, amd I truly believe that.
but it does not matter.
israel and the west in general cannot accept hizbushaitan existance on the north of israel with so many rockets at hand as well they cannot accept iran nuclear threats.
they created this situation for themselves and should have known better, or is it like nasrallah said yesterday? there will be no war because the west does not fight :)

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 20:27

Samy
they complete each other, they are two faces of the same currency: they are both destructive to lebanon.

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 13:56

for every tyrant there is a bigger tyrant....

Thumb bigsami 19 July 2012, 15:31

Accused Hizbullah on Thursday of carrying out the attack on Israeli tourists that killed seven people at Bulgaria's Burgas airport, under the auspices of Iran.

The same goes for the assassination of Rafik and many Lebanese BUT under the auspices of the SYRIAN REGIME.

The axis of evil at work!

Thumb bigsami 19 July 2012, 16:57

Yallah BSThrower run....run...hide...Israel is coming. Save us Hassan....Pathetic conditioned monkey!

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 16:55

FT.
when the shia want to support hizbushaitan, I am not responsible for them, so let hizbushaitan take care of his own.
when hizbushaitan crippled the economy for over 18 months downtown, no one compensated the people.
when hizbushaitan invaded Beirut with his shia followers, and killed, robbed ,... that leaves no room to consider them as my fellow countrymen.
the shias that do not follow hizbushaitan are true Lebanese and welcome in our heart.
but those thugs, never again....

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 16:59

FT.
when the shia want to support hizbushaitan, I am not responsible for them, so let hizbushaitan take care of his own.
when hizbushaitan crippled the economy for over 18 months downtown, no one compensated the people.
when hizbushaitan invaded Beirut with his shia followers, and killed, robbed ,... that leaves no room to consider them as my fellow countrymen.
the shias that do not follow hizbushaitan are true Lebanese and welcome in our heart.
but those thugs, never again....

Thumb geha 19 July 2012, 17:17

معلومات لدى جنود الرحمن أكيدة و موثوقة وجود بشار الأسد بمستشفى الشامي في دمشق و اصابته حرجة و معلومان عن ماهر الأسد أنه فارق الحياة و ليلة أمس و الى جهنم و بئس المصير و القادم أعظم ..........................​......(جنود الرحمن )
I thought I would share this with you guys. I do not know if it is true or not

Thumb shab 19 July 2012, 17:31

Lebanon has enough problems with the enemy within. No more fronts, thank you

Thumb phoenician 19 July 2012, 17:35

Operation shock and Awe on hizb,Amen.

Missing phillipo 19 July 2012, 17:59

Israel has no problems with the Lebanese Republic, and the Lebanese people. However it does have a problem with those terrorists led by that guy in the rat hole, who have taken over the south of the country, refuses to give up their arms to the Lebanese Army, and in general causes disturbance throughout Lebanon.

Missing midan 19 July 2012, 19:10

many people here seem to only (sense)see whats infront of their noses, there is a much bigger picture. a lot of u talk abt the same things and are unified on certain aspects of the issue , but when one of u says one thing the other dislikes , damn it gets ugly. Which is like what is happening outside on the streets, universities and unfortunately in the same family lebanese families at home. Ur supposed to converse not ridicule eachother or harass.

FOR A BETTER LEBANON, SAFE AND UNIFIED

Missing midan 19 July 2012, 19:11

apologies for the double post, thought the post comment button wasnt working.

Missing midan 19 July 2012, 19:13

again i didnt mean to spam that comment, :( it just showed after two minutes how many times i posted it

Thumb fero 19 July 2012, 22:03

these people have no facts no evidance no proof that is was hezbullah or iran but they just point at them because they are not afraid of them and they are against hezbullah becasue hezbullah destroyed them in 2006 now it is jst blaming theme because it needs to look like they are the victim so they can get more money

Thumb Marwan34 19 July 2012, 22:47

Hezbollah destroyed nobody their "divine victory" just led to the destruction of Lebanon .

Default-user-icon escort in dubai (Guest) 12 May 2013, 19:08

جازاك الله عني كل خير واثقلت كلماتك الراقية هذه ميزان حسناتك ان شاء الله..