Report: Bulgaria lacks proof of Hezbollah involvement in terrorist attack

Bulgaria says there is no evidence that Hezbollah was behind an attack on Israelis last year.

According to the report Thursday on 24chasa.bg, Bulgarian authorities have identified an Arab with links to al-Qaida as a suspected accomplice in the bombing at the Black Sea resort of Burgas last July.

The report came shortly after Nikolai Mladenov, Bulgaria’s foreign minister, paid a surprise visit to Israel to brief leaders on its probe into the bombing.

Jerusalem blamed the suicide attack, which killed seven Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian, on Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and Iran.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not disclose the details of the meeting with Mladenov.

A Bulgarian finding that Hezbollah was linked to the attack could lead to its classification as a terrorist group in the European Union.

Congress has in recent weeks called on European bodies to join the United States, Israel, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group.