Lebanese suicide bomber who killed 5 Israelis in Bulgaria is buried at Hezbollah cemetery

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese-French national who was accused of detonating explosives in a 2012 attack in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists was buried in a cemetery designated for fallen Hezbollah fighters, said a former Lebanese security official who negotiated the return of his remains.

The bomber was identified as Mohammad Hassan El-Husseini, 23. On July 18, 2012, he struck a group of Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, killing five Israelis, a Bulgarian bus driver, and injuring nearly 40 others, authorities said.

The explosion occurred shortly after the tourists, arriving on a charter flight from Tel Aviv, boarded a bus en route to their hotel. Israeli and Bulgarian authorities blamed the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

El-Husseini was eventually identified through a DNA analysis by Bulgarian investigators working with Israeli, U.S., and European intelligence agencies.

The former head of the Lebanese General Security intelligence agency, Abbas Ibrahim, told The Associated Press that he helped negotiate the return of the remains Thursday on behalf of El-Husseini’s family, who hired a lawyer in Bulgaria to handle the legal proceedings. He was buried Friday, Ibrahim said.

El-Husseini had entered Bulgaria days before the bombing using a fake Michigan driver’s license. He was part of a three-man Hezbollah cell operating across Europe, according to investigators. His alleged accomplices — Meliad Farah, an Australian-Lebanese, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Canadian-Lebanese — were charged in absentia in 2016. Both remain at large despite international arrest warrants.

Investigators said the men traveled through Poland, Romania, and Germany, using fake identities to gather materials for the attack. Intelligence officials believe Hezbollah coordinated their training and logistics.

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This story corrects the day when the body was returned.