Bulgaria files charges over 2012 bombing of Israeli tourists

Special court in Sofia to try in absentia the 2 accomplices of dead attacker, both said to be affiliated with Hezbollah

By AFP 15 July 2016, 10:41 pm

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An Israeli emergency rescue team examines the remains of a bus bombed in Bulgaria in July, 2012, allegedly by Hezbollah. (Dano Monkotovic/Flash90/JTA)

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian prosecutors filed charges Friday against two alleged accomplices of a bomber who blew up a bus carrying Israeli tourists at a Black Sea coast airport in 2012, a spokeswoman said.

The charges were “filed today at the specialized criminal court in Sofia,” chief prosecutor spokeswoman Rumyana Arnaudova told AFP, providing no further details about the exact counts.

The bomber, identified as Franco-Lebanese national Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, killed five Israelis, their Bulgarian driver and himself in the July 18, 2012 attack at Burgas airport, which left 35 other Israelis injured.

Bulgaria had previously identified his alleged accomplices as two Lebanese men with links to Hezbollah, named as Australian passport holder Meliad Farah and Canadian citizen Hassan El Hajj Hassan.

Israeli emergency workers carry a body bag away from the site of the Burgas attack. (Dano Monkotovic/FLASH90/JTA)

But prosecutors had so far been unable to locate them and would try them “in absentia,” Arnaudova said.

“The two accused have been on Interpol’s list of wanted persons for a long time now. There are Red Notices issued for them on our request. But we have no information so far about their whereabouts,” she added.

The specialized criminal court is expected to give more information on the indictment on Monday, the fourth anniversary of the bombing.

The attack — which both Israel and Bulgaria blamed on Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group — was the deadliest hit against Israelis abroad since 2004.

It played a role in a subsequent European Union decision to blacklist Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization.