February 7, 2013

Hezbollah denies involvement in Burgas attack

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A truck carries a bus, that was damaged in a bomb blast in July 2012, outside Burgas Airport, about 400km (248 miles) east of Sofia in this July 19, 2012 file photo. Photo by REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/Files

Hezbollah denied it was involved in a terrorist attack in Bulgaria that killed six, including five Israelis.

Two days after the Bulgarian government implicated two men with links to Hezbollah to the terrorist attack last July, deputy Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Thursday that Israel is making "allegations and incitements and accusations against Hezbollah" because it has not succeeded in defeating it militarily, Reuters reported.

"Israel is leading an international campaign to intimidate people and countries against Hezbollah," Qassem reportedly told religious students in southern Beirut. "We will not submit to these pressures and we will not change our priorities. Our compass will remain directed towards Israel."

Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006.

Bulgaria's interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, told reporters on Tuesday that Hezbollah also financed the bomb attack on a tour bus full of Israelis.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government would cooperate with Bulgarian investigators, according to Reuters. The people directly behind the attack were part of a Hezbollah cell that included two operatives using passports from Australia and Canada, he said.

Israel has blamed Hezbollah and Iran for the attack, which also killed the Israeli tourists' Bulgarian bus driver. Iran has denied responsibility and accused Israel of staging the attack.