Canada To Be Emulated: "The Depravity Of Hezbollah Knows No Bounds"

From The National Post:

Feb. 15, 2013

‘The depravity of Hezbollah knows no bounds’: Blacklist Lebanese group, Canada tells the EU

Stewart Bell | Feb 15, 2013
More from Stewart Bell | @StewartBellNP

Impact Press Group / The Associated Press FilesA damaged bus is transported out of Burgas airport, Bulgaria, a day after a deadly suicide attack on a bus full of Israeli vacationers.

Following allegations that Hezbollah was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria, Canadian diplomats have been actively lobbying European Union countries to “send a strong message” by blacklisting the Lebanese group as a terrorist organization.

“We believe there is overwhelming evidence to suggest Hezbollah has been not just complicit, but actively carrying out terrorist attacks around the world in support of Iran,” a government official said Friday. “We hope that the European Union will follow Canada’s lead.”

While Canada outlawed Hezbollah in 2002, most European countries have not yet done so. But the EU is under renewed pressure to proscribe the Iranian-backed Islamist group after it was linked to last July’s bombing of a bus full of Israeli tourists visiting the Black Sea coast.

On Monday, European foreign ministers will meet for the first time since Bulgaria went public with the results of its investigation. At the meeting, Nikolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, will brief them on the probe into the attack at Sarafovo Airport in Burgas.

Bulgaria’s Ministry of Interior told the National Post the investigation had determined that three terrorists entered the country on June 28, 2012. While the name and nationality of one remains unknown, the other two are citizens of Canada and Australian, the official said.

The bomb was detonated remotely as the unidentified terrorist was planting it on the bus, killing five tourists and their driver. The Canadian and Australian, who are alleged members of Hezbollah, later fled through Romania and are currently in Lebanon.

“The Burgas bombers were maintaining part of Hezbollah’s structures in Canada and Australia and had contacts with representatives of this organization,” Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the Bulgarian Interior Minister, told TV7. “Our hypothesis is that the two were fellow engineering students in Lebanon where they were planning the terror attack.”

Although the bomb carrier remains a mystery man, DNA testing has determined he is a relative of the Canadian, who became a citizen while living in Vancouver for four years. He returned to Lebanon at age 12 but continued to carry a Canadian passport.

Coming just weeks after Algeria said two Canadians were among the terrorists who had stormed the In Amenas gas plant, resulting in the deaths of three dozen workers, the allegation a Canadian was involved in the Bulgarian bombing have outraged many Canadians.

Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, said last week he was considering legislation that would revoke Canadian citizenship from dual nationals convicted of terrorism. Under the proposal, engaging in terrorism would be considered a renunciation of citizenship.

Meanwhile, Canada has been cooperating with Bulgarian authorities on the bombing investigation and encouraging the European Union to crack down on Hezbollah, an arm of the Iranian regime, which provides most of its financing, training and weapons.

“We continue to urge the European Union and all partners who have not already done so to list Hezbollah as a terrorist entity and prosecute terrorist acts committed by this reckless and inhumane organization to the fullest possible extent,” said Rick Roth, spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

“The depravity of Hezbollah knows no bounds, and Canada will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure that Hezbollah and its backers are held to account, and justice prevails.”

National Post