Recently in Bulgaria Category

"[I]f they [the Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide." -- Hasan Nasrallah, leader of Hizballah

"Bulgaria implicates Hezbollah in fatal bus bombing," from the Associated Press, February 5 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Hezbollah bombed a bus filled with Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year, investigators said Tuesday, describing a sophisticated bombing carried out by a terrorist cell that included Canadian and Australian citizens.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, in the first major announcement in the investigation into the July 18 bombing that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, said one of the suspects entered the country with a Canadian passport, and another with one from Australia.

“We have well-grounded reasons to suggest that the two were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah,” Tsvetanov said after a meeting of Bulgaria’s National Security Council. “We expect the government of Lebanon to assist in the further investigation.”

Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political party that emerged in response to Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, has been linked to attacks and kidnappings on Israeli and Jewish interests around the world. The group has denied involvement in the Bulgaria bombing.

The bomb exploded as the bus took a group of Israeli tourists from the airport to their hotel in the Black Sea resort of Burgas. The blast also killed the suspected bomber, a tall and lanky pale-skinned man wearing a baseball cap and dressed like a tourist.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Europol Director Rob Wainwright said the bomb was detonated remotely using a circuit board that a Europol expert has analyzed. Although it was initially believed to be a suicide bombing, Wainwright said investigators believe the bomber never intended to die.

Two counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses that were found near the bombing scene were traced back to Lebanon, where they were made, Wainwright said.

He said forensic evidence, intelligence sources and patterns in past attacks all point to Hezbollah’s involvement in the blast.

“The Bulgarian authorities are making quite a strong assumption that this is the work of Hezbollah,” Wainwright said. “From what I’ve seen of the case - from the very strong, obvious links to Lebanon, from the modus operandi of the terrorist attack and from other intelligence that we see - I think that is a reasonable assumption.”

Europol, which helps coordinate national police across the 27-nation European Union, which includes Bulgaria, sent several specialists to help investigate the attack.

The investigators found no direct links to Iran or to any al-Qaida-affiliated terror group, Wainwright said.

Linking Hezbollah to the attack is likely to escalate tensions between Israel and Iran, and provoke diplomatic headaches within Europe.

The United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The EU does not, and linking the group to the Bulgarian attack will increase pressure on it to do so. France and Germany had pressured investigators not to publicly name Hezbollah as responsible for the bombing, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media....

How did these Islamic religious scholars, imams and teachers miss all the passages in the Qur'an about love for and peaceful coexistence as equals with the Infidels? So many misunderstanders of Islam -- it's on ongoing puzzle! "Bulgarian radical Islam trial hears witnesses amid nationalist demo," from AFP, October 29 (thanks to Maxwell):

PAZARDZHIK, Bulgaria — A trial against 13 Bulgarian Muslim religious leaders for preaching a radical form of Islam heard key witnesses Monday, while nationalists demonstrated at the court in the southern town of Pazardzhik to protest "Muslim pressure" on its work.

The 12 men and one woman -- imams, mufti Islamic scholars and teachers -- have been charged with founding a local branch of the extremist Al Waqf-Al Islami group in the southern regions of Smolyan, Blagoevgrad and Pazardzhik.

The Netherlands-based but Saudi-funded organisation is suspected of links to Al-Qaeda.

The 13 were charged with preaching a radical anti-democratic ideology based on hardline Salafist teachings during prayers at mosques, lectures, sermons and cafe meetings between March 2008 and October 2010 and with seeking to impose a caliphate state.

All defendants have pleaded not guilty and several witnesses have so far refused to confirm their initial written testimony.

Another key witness, who once worked for the Al Waqf-Al Islami foundation also rejected his testimony on Monday. Muafak al-Assad, a Syrian national who once studied in Bulgaria, also said he was pressured by state security agents to refuse an interpreter and not to appear at the trial at all....

About 300 nationalists meanwhile demonstrated at the court with Bulgarian flags and signs reading "Bulgaria is a secular state" to protest what they said was "Muslim pressure" over the court during its previous hearings.

A crowd of long-bearded men and women wearing long black dresses had then gathered outside the courtroom to support their religious leaders but their outfit, which is not traditional for Bulgaria's Muslim minority, sparked a controversy. They were absent on Monday, however.

"We want to avoid conflicts," Bulgaria's deputy chief mufti Birali Birali, who was present at the hearing, said.

Bulgaria, whose population of 7.4 million is 80-percent Christian Orthodox, also has the highest percentage of native Muslims in the European Union, at about 13 percent.

They include Turks, Muslim Roma and Pomaks, like the accused, whose Christian ancestors were forced to convert to Islam during the country's Ottoman domination between the 14th and 19th century. The Pomaks are the most devout of the three subgroups, minority experts said.

Most experts also warned that, regardless of its outcome, the trial risks raising tensions between Bulgaria's Christian majority and the Muslim minority, who have lived together quietly since the fall of communism in 1989.

Yes, the trial will raise tensions. Thirteen Muslim leaders preaching hatred of the Infidels and the need to subjugate them under Islamic rule -- that doesn't raise tensions. Only trying them does.

Don't these Misunderstanders of Islam know that Ramadan is a time to "reconcile differences and seek peace"? "Qaedat al-Jihad claims responsibility for Burgas attack," by Roi Kais for Ynet News, July 21:

A group going by the name "Qaedat al-Jihad" has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack against Israeli tourists in Burgas which claimed the lives of six people, including five Israelis, and wounded dozens.

In a statement released in Western media outlets, the group threatened to carry out more attacks. "The month of Ramadan is a month of holy war and death for Allah. It is a month for fighting the enemies of Allah and God's messenger, the Jews and their American facilitators."

The organization is apparently affiliated with the Global Jihad movement.

Its statement said, "One of our groups aided by Allah managed to bomb a bus full of Jewish tourists, plunderers of holy lands, after careful tracking.

"The holy war is not confined to a particular arena and we shall fight the Jews and the Americans until they leave the land of Islam."

Israel and the US pointed a finger at Iran and Hezbollah following the attack.

Sources are now saying that the jihadist's identity is not clear. His Hizballah membership appears clearer. "Hezbollah Is Blamed in Attack on Israeli Tourists in Bulgaria," by Nicholas Kulish and Eric Schmitt in the New York Times, July 19:

BURGAS, Bulgaria — A senior American official confirmed Israel’s assertions on Thursday that the suicide bomber who killed five Israelis in an attack here on Wednesday was a member of a Hezbollah cell operating in Bulgaria.

The official said the current American intelligence assessment is that the bomber was “acting under broad guidance” to hit Israeli targets when the opportunity presented itself. That guidance was given to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group, by its primary sponsor, Iran, he said.

The attacks, the official said, were in retaliation for the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists by Israeli agents, something that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied. “This was tit for tat,” said the American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the investigation was still underway....

The nuclear scientists were not innocent civilians. They were part of a war effort.

A senior Israeli official said on Thursday that the Burgas attack was part of an intensive wave of terrorist attacks around the world carried out by two different organizations, the Iranian Quds Force, an elite international operations unit within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as well as Hezbollah.

“They work together when necessary, and separately when not necessary,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss national security issues.

While the the Burgas attack fit the modus operandi of Hezbollah, the Israeli official said, it was not clear whether the bomber intended to blow himself up or had suffered what the official called a “work accident,” adding: “We will never know.”

The bomber was carrying a fake Michigan driver’s license, but there are no indications that he had any connections to the United States, the American official said, adding that there were no details yet about the bomber — his name, age or nationality. He also declined to describe what specific intelligence — intercepted communications, analysis of the bomber’s body parts and other details — that led analysts to conclude that the suicide bomber belonged to Hezbollah.

“This looks like he was hanging out for a local target, and when this popped up he jumped on it,” the official said, referring to a tour bus carrying Israeli vacationers outside the airport in Burgas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference Thursday in Jerusalem that the attack in Burgas was carried out by “Hezbollah, the long arm of Iran.”

For their part, Iranian officials condemned the attack and all acts of terrorism. “Terrorism endangers the lives of innocents,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, according to Iran’s state Arabic-language television channel, Al Alam.

The Bulgarian authorities released a security video Thursday showing the suspect wandering into the arrivals hall at the airport here, for all appearances just another tourist in his plaid shorts, Adidas T-shirt and baseball hat.

But it is his oddly bulky, oversized backpack that, in terrible hindsight, stands out the most. This bag, investigators believe, contained the bomb that the man is suspected of detonating next to a bus outside the airport, killing the five Israeli tourists, a Bulgarian bus driver and himself in a fireball that upended this city on the Black Sea.

The suicide attack, the country’s first, sent police and intelligence officers from Bulgaria, Israel and the United States scrambling to identify the bomber and to look for possible accomplices and convincing evidence that would connect him to Hezbollah or Iran.

Officials here have said they have the man’s fingerprints and his DNA, and are trying to identify a man who was roughly 36 years old, whom they suspect was in the country between four and seven days before the blast....

UPDATE: Officials deny that the jihad murderer was a Gitmo detainee.

Not only is Ghezali a demonstration of how Islamic antisemitism all too often is manifested in blood and murder; he is also a vivid illustration of how the Left's vociferous opposition to anything and everything that the U.S. does to defend itself kills people. I wonder if Leftist lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith, who assured authorities that other Gitmo detainees deemed dangerous were actually harmless, will have any comment on this. (I knew Clive slightly when we were both students at the University of North Carolina; Clive, if you're reading this, send me an email at director[at]jihadwatch.org: I'd love to interview you about Mehdi Ghezali and Guantanamo.)

Note also the role that mainstream media whitewashing of Islamic jihad played in this: instead of alerting Swedish citizens to the danger Ghezali posed, The Local downplayed his jihad activity -- and no doubt smeared anyone who tried to sound the alarm as a greasy Islamophobe.

"Anti-Israel Bomber in Bulgaria Was Released From Gitmo Thanks To Left," from Breitbart, July 19 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Leftists who hate Israel can rejoice; their efforts at securing the release of a Gitmo detainee and their subsequent lionizing of him allowed him to murder five Israelis in the bombing Wednesday in Burgas, Bulgarian. The bomber has been identified as Mehdi Ghezali, who was detained at Gitmo Bay in Cuba from 2002 to 2004.

According to Wikileaks documents, Ghazali was “uncooperative, unforthcoming and deceptive during interrogations.” His father had met with Abdolrahman Barzanjee, an Al Qaeda associate and possible Ansar Al-Islam coordinator for Europe (Ansar Al-Islam is a group of Sunni Muslims trying to turn Iraq into an Islamist state), and Ghazali was friends with a Swedish operative who was a close associate of Abu Zubadayah, a high-ranking official with Al Qaeda.

Ghazali, who was a Swedish citizen, was visited by members of the Swedish government frequently while he was in custody at Gitmo, and the Swedish media played up his incarceration. While Ghezali was detained at Gitmo, he was featured in the documentary Gitmo – The New Rules of War, a film that savaged Guantanamo Bay detention camp by film directors Erik Gandini and Tarik Saleh.

In February of 2004, Ghazali was reassessed and regarded as an enemy combatant who had gone to Afghanistan to support the Taliban, but although Gitmo concluded that he was a “medium risk, as he may possibly pose a threat to the US its interests and allies,” the decision to release him to Sweden followed: “Recommendation: JTF Gitmo recommends that this detainee be transferred to the control of another country for continued detention.”

He was released to Sweden on July 8, 2004. And guess how much he meant to the Swedish? He was flown home to Sweden by the Swedish Air Force on a Gulfstream IV jet, at the expense of the Swedish government.

Ghazali joined a July 4, 2006 demonstration held outside the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay facility.

But the liberal Swedes weren’t done with nurturing Ghazali yet. He was arrested in September of 2009 in Punjab, Pakistan, on suspicions of having ties to al-Qaeda; Pakistani police chief Mohammad Rizwan described Ghezali as "a very dangerous man". But the Swedish newspaper The Local described his actions as "a harmless meeting with a Muslim revivalist movement, Tablighi Jamaat."

One month later, Ghezali was released to Sweden. The Swedish Ambassador even accompanied him on the flight home.

With all the help Ghezali received from the liberal media and liberal governments, it’s obvious they have blood on their hands. But the blood is Israeli, so don’t expect the Left to shed a single tear.

UPDATE: U. S. officials deny that Ghezali was the Bulgaria jihad murderer.

Yet again Islamic antisemitism erupts into mass murder, while the world continues to turn a blind eye to it as a phenomenon. "Bulgarian press names bomber: Mehdi Ghezali," from the Times of Israel, July 19 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Bulgarian media on Thursday named the suicide bomber who blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists, killing five Israelis and a local bus driver, in the Black Sea resort of Burgas on Wednesday as 36-year-old Mehdi Ghezali.

Ghezali reportedly arrived in Bulgaria five weeks before the bombing and arrived at the airport via taxi, Channel 2 reported. He was also reportedly given the bomb by someone else, but no further details were provided.

There was no independent confirmation of the veracity of the information. The reports surfaced soon after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly accused Hezbollah, directed by Iran, of responsibility for the bombing. The Prime Minister’s Office made no comment on the reports.

The Bulgarian reports, rapidly picked up by Hebrew media, posited various versions of how the bomber had detonated the bomb, including the suggestion that the bomber had not intended to die in the blast, but may have wanted to place the bomb on the bus and flee.

Ghezali has a Wikipedia page, which describes him as a Swedish citizen, with Algerian and Finnish origins. He had been held at the US’s Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba from 2002 to 2004, having previously studied at a Muslim religious school and mosque in Britain, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, it says. He was taken into custody on suspicion of being an al-Qaeda agent, having been arrested along with a number of other al-Qaeda operatives.

Following a lobbying effort by Swedish prime minister Göran Persson, Guantanamo authorities recommended Ghezali be transferred to another country for continued detainment, and he was handed over to Swedish authorities in 2004. The Swedish government did not press charges.

A 2005 Swedish documentary about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp starred Ghezali, who detailed his experience in American custody.

He was also reportedly among 12 foreigners captured trying to cross into Afghanistan in 2009.

Earlier on Thursday the Bulgarian police released a brief video clip that claimed to show the suicide bomber, responsible for Wednesday’s terror attack on a tour bus full of Israeli citizens, walking around shortly before the blast at Burgas International Airport.

The Bulgarian news agency Sofia reported that the bomber was carrying an American passport and Michigan driver’s license, both believed to be forgeries.

Sofia also reported that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry managed to recover the fingerprints of the bomber, which they submitted to the FBI in the United States and the international police organization Interpol. The FBI and CIA joined Israeli and Bulgarian officials in investigating the attack.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told Sofia that DNA tests were being run to determine the identity of the Caucasian man, who the minister described as casually dressed with nothing suspicious about his appearance to set him apart from the crowd of people at the airport....

Supporting the idea that this was a jihad attack is the fact that it was a suicide bombing. Pace CAIR-linked Robert Pape, only jihadists have thus far been known to commit mass murder in this way on an international scale. "Bulgaria says suicide attacker in baseball cap, sneakers, shorts attacked Israeli tourist bus," by Veselin Toshkov for The Associated Press, July 19:

SOFIA, Bulgaria - A lanky, long-haired man wearing a baseball cap and plaid shorts with a fake Michigan driver's license carried out a deadly suicide attack on a bus full of Israeli vacationers, Bulgarian officials said Thursday.

Israel stuck by its claim that the attack was carried out by Iranian-backed Hezbollah, a Lebanese guerrilla group, and threatened retaliation. Seven people — five Israelis, the Bulgarian driver and the bomber — died in the blast Wednesday.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. But Israel has attributed a series of attacks on its citizens around the world in recent months to Iran, threatening to escalate a shadow war between the two arch-enemies.

The attack occurred shortly after the Israelis boarded a bus outside the airport in the Black Sea resort town of Burgas, a popular destination for Israeli tourists — particularly for high school graduates before they are drafted into military service — about 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of the capital, Sofia.

Bulgarian television aired security camera footage Thursday showing the suspected bomber wandering in and out of the terminal shortly before the blast. He was dressed as a tourist himself, wearing a baseball cap, T-shirt, plaid shorts and sneakers with short white socks. He carried a large backpack with wheels, as well as a smaller bag.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the bomber was believed to have been about 36 years old and had been in the country between four and seven days.

"We cannot exclude the possibility that he had logistical support on Bulgarian territory," the minister said.

Officials were using DNA samples to try to establish his identity. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov told reporters that a Michigan driver's license was retrieved, but he said U.S. officials reported that "there was no such person in their database." Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab communities in the United States.

Could this be the "white jihadist" that we have heard about efforts to recruit for so many years? "Bulgarian police release video of suicide bombing suspect," by Asher Zeiger for the Times of Israel, July 19:

Bulgarian police have released a short video they say is of the suicide bomber responsible for Wednesday’s terror attack on a tour bus full of Israeli citizens at the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian news agency Sofia reported that the bomber was carrying an American passport and Michigan driver’s license. Both documents are believed to be forgeries.

Sofia also reported that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry has managed to recover the fingerprints of the bomber, which they have submitted to the FBI in the United States and the international police organization Interpol. The FBI and CIA have joined Israeli and Bulgarian officials in investigating the attack.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told Sofia that DNA tests would be run to determine the identity of the Caucasian man, who the minister described as casually dressed with nothing suspicious about his appearance to set him apart from the crowd of people at the airport.

The ministry did not indicate how the police came to the conclusion that the man was the suicide bomber.

The video released by the police on Thursday shows a young man with long hair wearing a hat and backpack, dressed in a blue T-shirt and Bermuda shorts. He was filmed by the video camera approximately one hour before the attack took place.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Thursday the attack was likely carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated as he boarded the bus. Initially, investigators believed the bomb had been set off from within a suitcase on the bus....

Is the possibility that he spent time in Michigan going to be investigated? Given the official indifference to the presence of the jihad ideology there, probably not. "Suicide bomber blew up Bulgaria airport bus," by Angel Krasimirov for Reuters, July 19:

BURGAS, Bulgaria (Reuters) - A suicide bomber carried out the attack that killed eight people in a bus transporting Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, the country's interior minister said on Thursday, and Israel accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants of responsibility.

Video surveillance in front of the airport and the investigation showed the bomber could not be distinguished among arriving Israeli tourists, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said at the airport of Burgas, on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

"We have established there was a person who was a suicide bomber in this attack (on Wednesday). This person had a fake driving license from the United States, from the state of Michigan," Tsvetanov told reporters.

"He looked like anyone else - a normal person with Bermuda shorts and a backpack," he said.

Special forces had managed to obtain DNA samples from the fingers of the bomber and were now checking databases in an attempt to identify him, Tsvetanov said. Bulgarian security services had received no indications of a pending attack.

Tsvetanov said eight people were killed in the attack including the Bulgarian driver of the bus and the bomber. The Israeli foreign ministry said it could confirm that five Israelis were killed.

The tourists had arrived in Bulgaria on a charter flight from Israel and were on the bus in the airport car park when the blast tore through the double-decker. Body parts were strewn across the ground, mangled metal hung from the bus's ripped roof and black smoke billowed over the airport....

This raises more questions than it answers. Was the jihad mass murderer carrying a fake Michigan driver's license in order to throw investigators off the scent as to his actual origins and movements? Or did he have occasion to travel in Michigan, and if so, with whom did he meet there, and what did he do? Fraud regarding driver's licenses has been abundantly documented. Questions about this jihadist's possible contacts in Michigan are legitimate, and should be asked, and answered. An update on this story. "Bulgaria: Bombing Most Likely Suicide Attack," from the Associated Press, July 19:

(SOFIA, Bulgaria) — A brazen daytime bombing that killed seven people and injured dozens on a bus full of Israeli tourists was most likely a suicide attack, Bulgarian officials said Thursday. Israel stood by its claim that Iranian-backed Hezbollah was responsible and vowed to hit back.

The identity of the suspected bomber was still unknown but a Michigan driving license that he carried was a fake, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said.

“We worked on this with colleagues from the FBI and the CIA,” Borisov said. “They said that there is no such person in their database.”

The suspected bomber appeared on security camera tape for nearly an hour before the Wednesday attack, which gutted the bus at the airport in the quiet Black Sea resort of Burgas, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital, Sofia.

Borisov said he wants a photo of the suspect taken from the tape released and that a DNA expert is checking the suspect’s fingerprints....

No group has immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell upon Iran and its Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah guerrilla group. Iran’s state TV rejected accusations of Tehran’s involvement, saying in a commentary Thursday that claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others were “ridiculous” and “sensational.”...

UPDATE: Bulgarian PM says the license was fake.

--------------------

An Iran-backed Hizballah jihadist from Michigan? Naaah. Couldn't be. Everyone knows that every last Muslim in Michigan is peaceful, law-abiding, and loyal to Constitutional values and Western understandings of human rights. Only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise, right?

"Bulgaria: Bombing most likely carried out by suicide attacker, was carrying Michigan license," from the Associated Press, July 18 (thanks to David):

SOFIA, Bulgaria — A brazen daytime bombing that killed eight people and injured dozens on a bus full of Israeli tourists was most likely a suicide attack, Bulgaria’s interior minister said Thursday. He said the suspected attacker was carrying a Michigan driver’s license that was being sent to the FBI for authentication.

Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the suspected bomber appeared on security camera tape for nearly an hour before the Wednesday attack, which gutted the bus at the airport in the quiet Black Sea resort city of Burgas, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital, Sofia.

The death toll had risen to eight, including the suspected bomber, as the Bulgarian driver of the bus died in the hospital, Tsvetanov said. Six of the victims are Israeli citizens, while the nationality of the suspected bomber remains unknown.

The Israelis had just arrived on a charter flight from Tel Aviv carrying 154 people, including eight children.

No group had immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell upon Iran and its Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah guerrilla group. Iran’s state TV rejected accusations of Tehran’s involvement.

A commentary Thursday on the TV website calls claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others “ridiculous” and “sensational.”...

“All signs point to Iran,” Netanyahu said Wednesday. “Just in the past few months, we have seen attempts by Iran to harm Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and more. This is an Iranian terror attack that is spreading across the world. Israel will react forcefully to Iran’s terror.”...

"Israel has previously warned Bulgaria of the threat posed by Hizbollah."

"Israelis killed in Bulgaria bus suicide bombing," by Marcus Dysch for The JC, July 18 (thanks to David):

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has confirmed a number of Israelis have been killed in an explosion on a bus carrying tourists in Bulgaria.

It is believed a suicide bomber boarded the bus outside the Sarafovo airport and immediately detonated his bomb. The Bulgarian Interior Ministy confirmed the explosion had been a terrorist attack.

Local media in the resort of Burgas claim the bus was packed with Israelis, possibly members of a young basketball team on their way to a training camp.

Reports suggest as many as seven people have been killed. At least 18 people have arrived at a local hospital to be treated for their injuries, while the airport has been closed in the wake of the attack. It is feared a pregnant woman was among those injured.

The explosion is thought to have occurred at around 6pm local time (4pm BST). A flight from Tel Aviv had arrived around one hour earlier. All flights from Israel to Bulgaria have now been suspended.

The bus is believed to have been an airport shuttle carrying the holidaymakers. Around 40 people were thoguht to be on the bus.

Cypriot authorites last week arrested a Swedish national believed to be a Hizbollah member suspected of planning an attack on Israelis.

Burgas is the second largest resort on the country's Black Sea coast. It is popular with Israeli tourists and is home to a Chabad centre. Israeli teens are known to flock to the resort for their summer holidays.

Israel has previously warned Bulgaria of the threat posed by Hizbollah. Bulgaria has a Jewish community of around 7,000.

In January a suspicious package was found on a bus carrying Israeli tourists from Turkey to Bulgaria, leading Israel to request additional security for its tourists travelling in the country, according to reports at the time in the Bulgarian press.

The Bulgaria attack coincides with the 18th anniversary of the fatal bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds....

They found "a large number of propaganda papers with radical content preaching religious hatred." What? In an Islamic foundation? There must be some mistake! "Bulgarian police raid offices of Islamic foundation," from AFP (no online link), October 6 (thanks to David):

Oct. 06 (AFP) -- Bulgarian prosecutors and police on Wednesday raided the offices of an Islamic organisation with alleged links to Al-Qaeda, the interior ministry said.

Officers raided the offices of the Al Waqf-Al Islami foundation in the southern towns of Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik and Smolyan, finding "a large number of propaganda papers with radical content preaching religious hatred," the ministry said in a statement.

They also confiscated a number of financial documents, it said.

The ministry did not say whether any arrests were made, but the homes of Muslim religious leaders in the three regions were also raided, sparking protests by local Muslim communities....

What a surprise! Oddly enough, they don't seem ever to have protested the "large number of propaganda papers with radical content preaching religious hatred." Well, we're all busy!

Jihad in the Balkans. But wait a minute: don't the learned pundits say that there is no significant threat there? "Bulgarian Police Official Warns Of Islamist Threat," from AP, with thanks to Nicolei:

SOFIA (AP)--Bulgaria's top police official warned Thursday that pockets of Islamic fundamentalism in the Balkans are creating a favorable environment for the establishment of militant groups.

Speaking at a regional police anti-crime conference, Gen. Boiko Borisov urged for "joint efforts to fight the global terrorism network."

He warned that despite the elimination of several al-Qaida bases the level of threat remains high.

"The Balkans as a part of Europe are a potential target, a possible ground for terrorists," he said. "Our countries are backing the anti-terror coalition and this makes them possible targets of attacks."

More evidence of the jihadist presence in Europe. From Bulgaria's Novinite, with thanks to Anthony:

Some dozen Arabs with Bulgarian citizenship have been detected among the active terrorist groups in Iraq, according to CIA quoted by Bulgarian TRUD daily.

However, Bulgaria's special services and military intelligence denied having such information.

The CIA claimed that one of those terrorists, dubbed D.M., had passed through Bulgaria last month.

Apparently the Federal Government can't give money to religious groups except outside the US. I wonder what provisions the State Department has made to ensure that this Bulgarian mosque will not be staffed or influenced by radical Muslims who want nothing more for State than to drop a bomb on it. From the Focus News Agency, with thanks to Nikolai:

Ambassador Pardew signed agreement with the Mayor of Silistra Ivo Andonov for reconstruction of the built in 16th century Kurshumlu Mosque, announced BNR....

The signed agreement today provides US 32,000 gratuitous help from the US State Department for reconstruction of one of the biggest mosques in Northeast Bulgaria.

Plus some information on the latest hostages, from Reuters:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - A decapitated corpse was found by police in northern Iraq Thursday and Bulgaria said it was investigating whether the body was one of two Bulgarians seized by militants loyal to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In Kuwait, the transport company that employs three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian also kidnapped by guerrillas in Iraq said it would do all it can to win their release.

The announcement of their kidnapping Wednesday sparked a new hostage crisis just a day after guerrillas freed a Filipino driver following Manila's capitulation to their demands.

Their captors say they will behead one hostage every three days unless the firm that employs the men, Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company, stops doing business in Iraq.

Iraqi police said the decapitated body and its severed head were found in the Tigris river near Baiji, 100 miles north of Baghdad, and taken to the city of Tikrit. Earlier this month another headless body in an orange jumpsuit was found in the river in the same area. It has yet to be identified.

The severed head was bloated from being submerged in the water. The body was dressed in a faded and torn reddish-colored tunic. Zarqawi's group dresses its hostages in orange clothing before executing them, mimicking the orange jumpsuits worn by U.S. prisoners including Muslim detainees in Guantanamo Bay.

The two Bulgarians, Georgi Lazov and Ivailo Kepov, were seized as they delivered cars to Mosul in northern Iraq. Zarqawi's group has already executed an American and a South Korean hostage, and has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq.

"We are officially looking into the situation and are checking if the body is one of the Bulgarian hostages. We are trying to confirm this," Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vicky Melamed said in Sofia.

BEGGING FOR THEIR LIVES

Video footage given to news organizations showed the seven kidnapped drivers looking tired and afraid in a dingy room, stating name and nationality to the camera and begging for their lives to be spared. One of them, Mohammed Ali Sanad from Egypt, tried to reassure his family.

"Mom, if you see me on TV don't get worried, we are with the best people, the Iraqis," he said. "You too my kids, Ahmed and Ali, don't worry. I am coming at the end of the month as I promised you, but if we die then I say thank God."

Even though it only had 51 troops in Iraq, the Philippines has dealt the coalition and the free world a major blow by caving in to terrorist demands and withdrawing them. Not only will they not bring peace to the Philippines or the Middle East, but many more people will be murdered by the terrorists. After all, they have seen that it works. From AP:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - New online statements by purported militants threatened attacks against three U.S. allies -- Poland, Japan and Bulgaria -- if they don't pull their troops from Iraq, a day after a Filipino hostage was released because the Philippines bowed to insurgents' demands and withdrew its tiny contingent....

The new threats against Poland, Japan and Bulgaria were worrying signs that militants may be emboldened by their success against the Philippines. The United States and other coalition allies had criticized the government for agreeing to withdraw its 51-member contingent to save the life of truck driver Angelo dela Cruz, who was kidnapped two weeks ago.

The same group that kidnapped dela Cruz, the Khaled bin al-Waleed Corps, took aim at Japan. The group is the military wing of Tawhid and Jihad, the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"To the government of Japan: Do what the Philippines has done. By God, nobody will protect you and we are not going to tolerate anybody," said a statement signed by the group. "Lines of cars laden with explosives are awaiting you; we will not stop, God willing."

A Foreign Ministry official in Japan said Wednesday that Tokyo would not pull its 500 troops, sent here for medical and reconstruction duty. Japan refused in April to withdraw after three Japanese were kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents. They were released unharmed....

The veracity of the latest statement could not be determined. A new statement signed Tawhid and Jihad on Wednesday cautioned readers to trust only statements posted on the group's behalf by Abu-Maysara al-Iraqi, the pen name of a frequent contributor to sites known for militant Muslim content. The threat against Japan was not posted by Abu-Maysara al-Iraqi.

While Tawhid and Jihad -- a name referring to the central Islamic tenet of monotheism and to holy war -- has claimed many attacks, it rarely issues threats or warnings. It earlier claimed responsibility for beheading U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il.

An online statement from a previously unknown group that identified itself as al-Qaida's European branch contained threats to carry out deadly attacks in Bulgaria and Poland if the two countries don't withdraw their troops from Iraq.

The statement, signed by the Tawhid Islamic Group, appeared Wednesday on an Islamic Web site known as a clearing house for al-Qaida and groups linked to the terror network. The group identified itself as "al-Qaida in Europe." The authenticity of the statement and the group could not be verified.

The group said Bulgaria and Poland will "pay the price" just like the United States and Spain did, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington and deadly explosions on trains in Madrid in March.

"To the crusader Bulgarian government which is allying itself with the Americans and to the Bulgarian people we demand, for the last time, that you withdraw Bulgarian troops out of Iraq or we swear we will turn Bulgaria into pools of blood if you don't comply," said the statement.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said Friday he won't pull out Bulgaria's 480-strong infantry battalion from Iraq. Last week militants threatened to kill two Bulgarian truck drivers in Iraq, while the fate of the second hostage remained unclear.

The group's statement also had a warning to Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka: "Pull your troops out of Iraq or you will hear the sounds of explosions that will hit your country, at the time we choose."...

On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Minister Janusz Zemke said withdrawing troops from Iraq would be a "terrible mistake" that would only encourage terrorism.

I'm glad somebody realizes that. It's too bad Janusz Zemke doesn't work in Manila.

Zarqawi's group says it has killed one of the Bulgarian hostages. The Bulgarians, of course, unlike the Filipinos, didn't cravenly cower before the jihadist threats. This man is a martyr for the cause of the equality of dignity and rights of all people.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A militant group holding two Bulgarian truck drivers said it had killed one of them, the Pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday.

Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad threatened last week to kill the men if the United States did not release all Iraqi detainees by Saturday.

The Philippine government promised to leave Iraq almost immediately after this man's kidnappers demanded that it do so. But now they are setting a deadline for the withdrawal as a condition for the man's life.

I expect that Philippine officials will probably agree to this demand. After all, they've already established what the Philippine government is; now they're just haggling over price.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarians are hanging tough.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A Filipino and two Bulgarians remain captive in Iraq after militants issued a fresh threat to kill the Filipino within 24 hours.

Angelo de la Cruz had appeared close to release the previous night, but his captors then denied they were freeing him and vowed to kill him on Sunday night unless Manila decided to pull its small troop contingent out of Iraq within 10 days.

"Yesterday was a false hope, he was not released but we are hoping he will soon be free," said a Philippine embassy source in Baghdad. He said he had heard nothing since the kidnappers had extended their deadline to kill the 46-year-old driver.

Death threats still hung over two Bulgarian truck drivers, but Sofia said it was growing more confident they had survived a Friday night execution deadline set by their captors.

"Today we have more reasons than yesterday to believe that there has been no radical change in the situation of the Bulgarian hostages in Iraq," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Gergana Grancharova told state radio.

"There are still many tense hours ahead. I do not want to leave the false impression of undue optimism," she said.