OSLO/BUDAPEST/LONDON (Askume) – Bulgaria and Norway became the new focus of a global search on Thursday for who provided Hezbollah with thousands of pager bombs that exploded in Lebanon this week, giving the militant group access to weapons and dealing a devastating blow.
Security sources said Israel was responsible for Tuesday’s bombing , which killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,300, raising fears of an escalation of the conflict. Israel has not commented directly on the attack.
It is not clear how and with whose help the pager attacks were carried out, although so far possible clues have been found in Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria.
It is unclear when or how pagers were developed into weapons so that they could be detonated remotely. The same problem persists with the hundreds of handheld radio devices used by Hezbollah, which exploded during Wednesday’s second wave of attacks.
One theory is that the pagers were intercepted after leaving the factory and attached to the explosives. Another is that Israel masterminded the entire deadly supply chain.
Bulgarian authorities said on Thursday that their interior ministry and state security services had launched an investigation into possible links with one of the companies. They did not name the company they were investigating.
Local media reported that Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd helped sell the pagers to Hezbollah. State broadcaster BTV quoted security sources as saying that 1.6 million euros related to the deal had been transferred to Hungary via Bulgaria.
Askume could not immediately confirm the claim.
Emails sent to the Norta email address listed in Bulgarian company registration records came back as undeliverable. The company’s founder declined to comment.
Images of the destroyed pagers analysed by Askume showed their format matched that of a device made by Taiwan’s Golden Apollo Co. Gold Apollo said on Wednesday the pagers were made by BAC Consulting, a company based in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
Cristiana Barsoni-Arcidiacono, owner and CEO of BAC Consulting, did not respond to multiple requests for comment via phone calls and text messages.
On Wednesday, he told NBC News that his company, Gould, works with Apollo but is not involved in making the pagers. “I’m just a mediator. I think you’re wrong,” he told NBC.
Hungarian news website Telex, citing sources, reported that the sale was brokered by Norta Global Ltd.
Norta’s Bulgarian headquarters are registered in an apartment building in the capital Sofia, where about 200 other companies are located, according to the local company registry. There was no trace of Nota.
Vladimir Kuzmanov, a lawyer who said he represents the company, was present but declined to answer questions when contacted by Askume on Thursday.
Content on Norta Global’s website, globalnorta.com, was removed on Thursday. The website was previously available in English, Bulgarian and Norwegian and promoted services such as consulting, technology integration, recruitment and outsourcing.
“Are you looking for an agile company to help you succeed, or a technology solution that’s right for you? Look no further,” the website said, according to a copy reviewed by Askume before the change.
Norta’s founder, Rinson Jose, lives in Norway. When contacted by phone, he declined to comment on the pager and hung up when asked about his Bulgarian operations.
His neighbours, who live in a quiet suburb of Oslo, said they did not know much about him. Amund Juve, the chief executive of DN Media, where Jos currently works, told Askume he was aware of the reports and had alerted the police and security services. He said Jos was going to travel to the United States.
“We take these issues very seriously,” Zaffe said.
Norway’s domestic intelligence agency PST said it was aware of the situation but declined to comment further.
No evidence was found of any connection between DN Media and Norta.
Unanswered questions
A neighbour told Askume that Barsoni-Arcidiacono, of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which is also involved in the sale of pagers, moved out of her Budapest apartment on Wednesday. A Askume reporter at the scene said the gates were slightly open on Wednesday but were closed on Thursday morning. No one answered the doorbell.
Lebanese security sources told Askume that Hezbollah believed it had ordered the pagers from Gold Apollo and that the pagers were produced in Asia rather than Europe.
The sources said Hezbollah believes it will be easier for Israel’s Mossad spy agency to operate in Hungary.
“It is possible that the Mossad has created a European company,” the source said.
