- The man behind the attack at Burgas airport is believed to be Mehdi Ghezali, an Algerian-Swedish Islamist
- Ghezali is believed to have spent two years in Guantanamo after he was arrested in Pakistan in 2001
- But when he was released and sent back to Sweden the local government refused to press charges
- He was again arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2009 on the Afghanistan border but once again set free when extradited back to his homeland
- Witnesses report the explosion happened soon after someone boarded the double-decker filled with Israeli tourists
A suicide bomber suspected of blowing up himself and six others at an airport in Bulgaria is believed to have spent two years in Guantanamo Bay before he was released without charge.
Media reports in Bulgaria have said the man behind the horrific attack at Burgas airport is Mehdi Ghezali, 33, an Algerian-Swedish Islamist.
He is believed to have spent two years in Guantanamo after he was arrested in Pakistan in 2001. But when he was released and sent back to Sweden the local government refused to press charges.
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Shocking: The man behind the attack at Burgas airport is believed to be Mehdi Ghezali, right, an Algerian-Swedish Islamist who spent two years in Guantanamo Bay. He is pictured holding a press conference in 2004 following his release. He denied having anything to do with Al-Qaeda
Suspect: This is the passport of Mehdi-Ghezali who is believed to be behind the attack at Burgas airport
Suspect: CCTV footage taken at Bulgaria's Burgas Airport shows the man believed to have carried out a suicide attack which killed eight Israeli tourists
The attack yesterday will now lead to serious questions for the Swedish authorities who refused to press charges.
The suspected bomber is pictured above holding a press conference in his hometown of Orebro, Sweden, with his lawyer Peter Althin following his release from the Cuban camp in 2004.
He denied having anything to do with Al-Qaida and claimed that he was subjected to both mental and physical torture at Guantanamo. He also said he would sue the US government for his detention.
However, despite the claims tonight the Swedish Security Service said it is not Mehdi Gehzali.
Mark Vadasz, director of communication at Säpo – the Swedish security service - told Swedish broadsheet Svenska Dagbladet that the allegations were untrue.
‘We can say for sure that it is not this person. Reports of fingerprints is a statement the Bulgarian security service will have to take responsibility for. Other than that I cannot go into details.’
Pictures released today show the suspected suicide bomber pictured moments before he is believed to have blown himself up killing himself and six people after he targetted the bus transporting Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.
Counterfeit: The fake US driving licence, supposedly issued by the state of Michigan, which the bomber was carrying
On his way: The man turns to walk towards the airport exit. Police say the bomber was carrying a fake US drivers licence
The bomber was carrying a fake US drivers licence. Following the attack, Israel accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants of being behind the incident on the country's Black Sea coast.
The tall white man with long hair can be seen milling around for over an hour apparently waiting for the Israeli tourists to target.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said: 'We have established there was a person who was a suicide bomber in this attack. This person had a fake driving license from the United States, from the state of Michigan.
'He looked like anyone else - a normal person with Bermuda shorts and a backpack.'
Special forces had managed to obtain DNA samples from the fingers of the bomber and were now checking databases in an attempt to identify him, Tsvetanov said.
Bulgarian security services had received no indications of a pending attack.
Tsvetanov said seven people were killed in the attack including the Bulgarian driver of the bus and the bomber. The Israeli foreign ministry said it could confirm that five Israelis were killed.
Blast: The wreckage of the Israeli tourist coach. Eight people were killed and over thirty injured in the explosion
Aftermath: Smoke rises into the sky after the explosion which the Israeli government say is the work of Tehran
An unidentified injured Israeli tourist is carried in front of Borgas hospital after an explosion at Burgas airport, outside the Black Sea city of Burgas
Injured: An Israeli medic helps a survivor of the bomb attack to board an ambulance
Body parts were strewn across the ground, mangled metal hung from the bus's ripped roof and black smoke billowed over the airport.
Worrying: Mehdi Ghezali, who is an Algerian-Swedish Islamist, is believed to have spent two years in the notorious terrorist holding camp Guantanamo Bay, pictured
Held: Ghezali is believed to have been detained at Guantanamo after he was arrested in Pakistan in 2001
Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov (left) said the bomber was carrying a fake US drivers licence while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) said Israel would react 'powerfully' against Iranian terror
On Thursday, the airport in Burgas - a city of some 200,000 people at the center of a string of seaside resorts - remained closed and police prevented people from approaching.
Beyond the cordons, some 100 holidaymakers waited patiently for their planes but had been told they would be there until midnight.
Officials were setting up portable toilets and tents for stranded travelers and Bulgaria's parliament opened with a one minute silence in memory of the bombing victims.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the Tehran-backed Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah carried out the bombing.
'The immediate executors are Hezbollah people, who of course have constant Iranian sponsorship,' Barak told Israel Radio.
Back home: Wounded survivor Nurit Harush is pushed in a stretcher by medics after her arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv
A visibly shaken Israeli survivor is comforted by a paramedic as she leaves a hospital in the city of Burgas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran, the Jewish state's arch-enemy, was behind the attack and that 'Israel will react powerfully against Iranian terror.'
Iran's embassy in Bulgaria denied that Tehran was behind the attack.
A spokesman said: 'The unfounded statements by different statesmen of the Zionist regime in connection with the accusations against Iran about its possible participation in the incident with the blown-up bus with Israeli tourists in Burgas is a familiar method of the Zionist regime, with a political aim, and is a sign of the weakness ... of the accusers.'
Shock: Passengers wait outside the airport which was closed after the incident with flights redirected to the airport of Varna
Shock: Two witnesses are escorted away from the scene at the airport earlier today
Aid: A Bulgarian medic is helping an unidentified young Israeli tourists at a local hospital after the explosion which killed six people
Medical officials said two badly injured Israeli tourists were taken to hospitals in Bulgaria's capital Sofia. One woman was in intensive care with head and chest injuries and a man was in a critical state with burns covering 55 percent of his body.
About 30 lightly injured Israeli tourists were to be flown back to Israel later on Thursday.
Israeli officials had previously said that Bulgaria, a popular holiday destination for Israeli tourists, was vulnerable to attack by Islamist militants who could infiltrate via Turkey.
The mayor of Burgas on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, said the bus was carrying Israeli tourists, but the police could not immediately confirm the nationality of the dead
Although Tehran has denied involvement, some analysts believe it is trying to avenge the assassinations of several scientists from its nuclear programme that the Iranians have blamed on Israel and its Western allies.
Israel and Western powers fear Iran is working towards a nuclear bomb but it says its uranium enrichment work is strictly for peaceful ends. Both Israel and the United States have not ruled out military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.
'The attack is terrible and inexcusable,' said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. 'It is a time to act responsibly. We have no information of our own. We urge caution in starting to assign blame.'
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