International Manhunt Launched for Bomber’s Mystery Accomplice
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Interpol(WASHINGTON) — An international manhunt is on to identify, capture and question a man suspected of being an accomplice in a deadly suicide bombing that targeted Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in July.
Bulgarian police released three images of the man – two computer-generated and one a driver’s license photo – who they describe as possibly being of Middle Eastern origin, standing between approximately 5’7″ and 5’9″ and being able to speak English with an accent, according to a notice posted on Interpol’s website.
The man is sought in connection with the July 18 suicide bombing of an Israeli tour bus at the Burgas airport that claimed the lives of five Israelis as well as the Bulgarian bus driver and injured dozens more. The remains of the actual attacker, who also has not been identified, were discovered among the wreckage. In early August, Bulgarian police released a computer-generated image of what the suicide bomber may have looked like – a young, white male with dark hair.
Days after the attack, Bulgarian officials told ABC News they were on the lookout for several possible suspects, and two weeks ago Bulgaria’s Ministry of the Interior first posted the new computer-generated images of the supposed accomplice on its website.
Within hours of the blast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he suspected Iran was behind the bombing and claimed it was only the latest attack in a “global pattern” of Iran-backed aggression targeting Israelis. Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Liberman, said the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had carried out the attack with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. A day after the bombing, The New York Times reported that American officials also believed Hezbollah was responsible and had acted under guidance from Iran.
For its part, Iran “vehemently rejected” the accusation and instead said that Israel was behind the attack, Iran’s semi-official Press TV reported last month.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio