* July bomb attack killed five Israeli tourists
* Finding may allow EU to classify Hezbollah as “terrorist”
* Israel blamed bombing on Iran, Hezbollah
* Iran denies it, Hezbollah has not commented
(Recasts, adds details on investigation, EU and Hezbollah)
By Tsvetelia Tsolova
SOFIA, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Bulgaria accused the Lebanese
militant movement Hezbollah on Tuesday of carrying out a bomb
attack on a bus in the Black Sea city of Burgas that killed five
Israeli tourists last July.
The conclusions of the Bulgarian investigation, citing a
clear connection to an attack on European Union soil, may open
the way for the EU to join the United States in branding the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah a terrorist organisation.
Three people were involved in the attack, two of whom had
genuine passports from Australia and Canada, Bulgarian Interior
Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told reporters after Sofia’s national
security council discussed the investigation.
“There is data showing the financing and connection between
Hezbollah and the two suspects,” Tsvetanov said.
“What can be established as a well-grounded assumption is
that the two persons whose real identity has been determined
belonged to the military wing of Hezbollah.”
Israel blamed the attack in Burgas – which killed five
Israeli tourists, their Bulgarian driver and the bomber – on
Iran and Hezbollah, a powerful Shi’ite Islamist militia that is
part of the Lebanese government.
Iran has denied responsibility and accused arch-enemy Israel
of plotting and carrying out the blast. Hezbollah, designated by
the United States as a terrorist organisation in the 1990s, has
not publicly responded to charges that it played a role.
The Netherlands considers Hezbollah a terrorist group and
said in August that the EU should also do so, which would mean
Brussels could act to freeze Hezbollah assets in Europe.
Britain reserves the designation for Hezbollah’s armed wing
but other EU member states, which have blacklisted the
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, have resisted U.S. and Israeli
pressure to do the same to Hezbollah.
Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, has repeatedly said
the bombing was plotted elsewhere and carried out by foreigners.
Even so, that attack stoked tension in a country where Muslims
make up some 15 percent of the 7.3 million population.
All three people involved in the attack had fake U.S.
driving licences that were printed in Lebanon, Tsvetanov said.
The two suspects with Canadian and Australian passports had been
living in Lebanon, one since 2006 and the other since 2010.
No one has been arrested in connection with the attack and
Tsvetanov said he hoped Australia, Canada and Lebanon would
cooperate with the continuing investigation.
(Additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Writing by Sam Cage;
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
