Reports have confirmed that Mehdi Ghezali, an ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee, was responsible for the bus blast in Bulgaria yesterday. Video surveillance in front of the airport showed that the suspect could not be identified amoung other traveling Israeli tourists because he looked like everyone else. Authorities have also confirmed that the bomber was carrying a fake drivers license from the state of Michigan. The airport has been closed all day so that police could conduct their investigation, a situation that has around 100 travelers waiting for their planes. They have been told that they would need to wait until midnight before they could use the airport again. Officials have set up tents and portable toilets for the stranded travelers and Bulgaria's parliament opened today with a moment of silence for those who lost their lives. (Huffington Post)
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| Syrian state TV has broadcast the first images of President Assad since an attack which left three defense officials dead. |
BBC News has reported that a UN Security Council resolution proposing further sanctions on Syria has been vetoed by Russia and China, a move which has prompted an angry Western response. The Syrian military has gathered troops and given residents 48 hours to leave the parts of Damascus held by rebel forces before it strikes back. The rebels are reported to have taken a number of border posts including the Sarmada and Bab al-Hawa crossings. The BBC article states that the Damascus government would have been threatened with non-military sanctions under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter if it didn't move troops and heavy artillery away from populated areas. This is a plan that can no longer happen because of the veto.
2) Smuggling tunnel found under EU border with Ukraine Source: The Guardian
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| Slovakian border guards patrol along the Slovakia-Ukraine border. (David W. Cerny / Reuters) |
According to a story on the Guardian website "a 700-meter tunnel with its own train used for smuggling has been discovered between Slovakia and Ukraine." While officials believe that the tunnel may have been used to smuggle people into Slovakia, its main use was to illegally import cigarettes into the EU. The story continues by claiming that police sized more than 2.5m contraband cigarettes. The tunnel connected a warehouse in Slovakia with a house in the Ukraine. The warehouse has been under surveillance for weeks and the owner was arrested on site. The full details of this story are still being released as new information is discovered. Officials have confirmed that sophisticated mining equipment was used in the creation of the tunnel, which ran about six metres below ground.
3) UK police charge three for 'terror training' Source: Aljazeera
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| Police has insisted the case has nothing to do with the Olympics, which begins on July 27. (Reuters) |
Aljazeera has reported that three British Muslims, including a former London police support officer, have been charged with traveling to Pakistan for terror training between 2010 and 2012. Scotland Yard said in a statement that the men had traveled to Pakistan "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts." The statement also says that the men were providing council to others about how to travel to Pakistan, find training, and how to stay safe while in the country. Two others were charged with having material likely to be useful for terrorism. The article says that all five of the men had been arrested earlier in the month. Officials deny any connection between the terror training and the upcoming Olympic games at the end of July. While an increase of chatter amoung extremist groups is to be expected with the games approaching, intelligence officials state that there has been no specific threats targeting the Olympics.
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