BULGARIA

Report: Bus Bomber Identified

Was an ex-Guantánamo detainee.

The identity of the suicide bus bomber who killed seven tourists was revealed by Bulgarian officials Thursday. Reported bomber Mehdi Ghezali was also a former detainee at Guantánamo Bay. Ghezali, who was of Swedish, Algerian, and Finnish descent, was held by American officials in 2002 under suspicion that he had attended a Muslim religious school and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He was released into Swedish custody in 2004, where his country of citizenship never pressed charges. Bulgarian officials have released video footage of Ghezali walking around the site of Wednesday’s attack shortly before the explosion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publically blamed Hizbullah and Iran for being behind the attack, which according to Israeli officials, killed five of its citizens.