Bulgaria hunting for bomber's accomplice
According to local media, man was captured on airport cameras in Varna, another popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists, at end of June. Bulgarian police suspect that he hasn't left the country
The identity of the Burgas suicide bomber is still unknown, as is the identity of his accomplice, although police are closing in on the person who helped the bomber detonate himself on a tourist bus, killing five Israelis and one Bulgarian.
The Bulgarian media reported Sunday morning that an autopsy conducted on the bomber's remains bore out the theory that he had help. The pathologist told one television station that "The bomber had light skin, light eyes, and brown hair" – a description that supports witness' reports of another individual, described as "short, Arab-looking."
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Police suspect that the accomplice has not left Bulgaria.
The bombed-out bus in Burgas (Photo: AP)
According to reports, the bomber was assisted by a person who had been seen in the resort town of Varna, another popular tourist destination for Israelis. He reportedly had documents that identified him as a US citizen named "David Jefferson," and a composite sketch has already been made public. Unconfirmed reports say that the man was captured on camera at the Varna airport at the end of June.
The current theory is that the accomplice, not the bomber, was the one who tried to rent a car to go the airport, since the person spotted was considerably shorter than the bomber himself.
On Saturday, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry denied claims by a group calling itself Qaedat al-Jihad that it was responsible for the Burgas bombing, coming in line with Israeli and American assessments that the terror attack was carried out by Hezbollah and not any organization affiliated with the global Jihad.
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