Bulgaria: Burgas bombers studied engineering in Lebanon
Interior Minister Tsvetanov says terrorists behind attack that killed five Israelis and their bus driver in resort town 'maintained part of Hezbollah's structures in Canada, Australia'
Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov has reiterated his claim that two of the terrorists who carried out the bombing attack on a bus filled with Israeli tourists in the Black Sea resort town of Burgas in July 2012 are Hezbollah operatives.
"The Burgas bombers were maintaining part of Hezbollah's structures in Canada and Australia and had contacts with other representatives of this organization," said Tsvetanov in an interview for TV7 on Friday.
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The Bulgarian minister first declared he had "grounded reasons to believe" that "Hezbollah's military wing" is involved in the Burgas bus bombing on February 5.
On Saturday Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to give speech in which he is expected address the accusations.
Israel has also accused the Lebanese terror organization of being behind the attack, which killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver.
Speaking to TV7, Tsvetanov said investigators now know the real names of the attackers and are tracking their movements through Europe.
Two of the terrorists are believed to be dual Canadian-Lebanese and Australian-Lebanese citizens.
"Our hypothesis is that the two were fellow engineering students in Lebanon where they were preparing the terror attack," said Tsvetanov.
According to him, they entered the EU using their real names, but traveled in Bulgaria using fake IDs.
Tsvetanov stressed that the revelation of the Hezbollah link to the attack did not stem from outside pressure.
"There was no pressure whatsoever, from the US or elsewhere," he said.
