Hezbollah pagers: Global hunt for supplier reaches Norway, Bulgaria; no vital clues yet
Though there were possible leads in Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria, it is not yet clear as to how and with whose help the pager attack was carried out
One of the theories doing the rounds is that the pagers were intercepted and hooked up with explosives after they left factories. | File photo
A global hunt for those who supplied Hezbollah with the thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon earlier this week has now led the investigators to Bulgaria and Norway.
Security sources told Reuters that Israel was responsible for the explosions on Tuesday that killed at least 12 people, injured more than 2,300 and raised the stakes in a growing conflict between the two sides. However, Israel has not directly commented on the attacks.
Unanswered questions
Though there were possible leads in Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria, it is not yet clear as to how and with whose help the pager attack was carried out. Besides, it also remains a mystery how and when the pagers were weaponised so that they could be remotely detonated.
The question remains the same for the hundreds of hand-held radios used by Hezbollah that exploded on Wednesday in a second wave of attacks.
One of the theories doing the rounds is that the pagers were intercepted and hooked up with explosives after they left factories. Another theory is that Israel orchestrated the whole deadly supply chain.
Bulgarian authorities said on Thursday that its interior ministry and state security services had initiated a probe into a company’s ties. They did not name the company they were investigating.
Zeroing in on pager firm
However, local media reports said Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd had facilitated the sale of the pagers to Hezbollah. Citing security sources, national broadcaster bTV reported that 1.6 million euros related to the transaction passed through Bulgaria, and was sent to Hungary.
Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format consistent with devices made by Taiwan’s Gold Apollo. But Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that the pagers were made by BAC Consulting, a company based in the Hungarian capital Budapest.
The owner and CEO of BAC Consulting, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, told NBC News that her company worked with Gold Apollo but that she had nothing to do with the manufacturing of the pagers. “I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong,” she told NBC.
Citing sources, Hungarian news site Telex reported that the sale was facilitated by Norta Global Ltd. Norta’s Bulgarian headquarters are registered at an apartment building in the capital Sofia that is also home to nearly 200 other companies, according to a local company registry. There was no sign of Norta.
No major lead yet
A lawyer, Vladimir Kuzmanov, who said he represented the company, was present at the address but declined to respond to questions when approached by Reuters on Thursday.
Norta’s founder, Rinson Jose, is based in Norway. He declined to comment on the pagers when reached by phone and hung up when asked about the Bulgarian business.
Barsony-Arcidiacono of BAC Consulting, the Budapest-based company that was also linked to the sale of the pagers, vacated her apartment in Budapest on Wednesday, a neighbour said.
A Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah believed it was ordering the pagers from Gold Apollo and that they were produced in Asia, not Europe. The source said Hezbollah considered it much easier for Israel’s Mossad spy agency to operate in Hungary. “It is possible that the Mossad created a European company,” the source said.