Bulgaria identifies bomber of Israeli tourist bus

Lebanese-born Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, 23, blew himself up in Burgas in 2012, killing 5 Israelis, say officials

By AP 18 July 2014, 2:08 pm 2 Edit

This image taken from security video provided by the Bulgarian Interior Ministry on Thursday, July 19, 2012, purports to show the Burgas bomber, center, with long hair and wearing a baseball cap, at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. (photo credit: Bulgarian Interior Ministry/AP)

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgaria has identified a suicide bomber who blew up a bus containing Israeli tourists two years ago as a dual Lebanese-French citizen.

The prosecutor’s office and the national security agency said in a joint statement Friday that the bomber was 23-year-old Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, who was born in Lebanon.

The July 2012 explosion outside an airport on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast killed five Israeli tourists, the Bulgarian bus driver and the bomber. Thirty-five people were wounded.

Last year, Bulgaria accused the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah of mounting the attack. It identified two Lebanese plotters as Meliad Farah, 32, who holds Australian citizenship, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, 25, a Canadian citizen. Neither has been arrested.

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