Conflicting Reports on Whether Bulgarian Suicide Bomber Was Former Guantanamo Detainee Mehdi Ghezali
Earlier today, numerous Israeli English-language media outlets (Times of Israel, Haaretz) picked up Bulgarian news stories that identified the Bulgarian suicide bomber as Mehdi Ghezali, a 33-year old Swede who was held at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2004 and was subsequently transferred to and released by the Swedish g
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Earlier today, numerous Israeli English-language media outlets (Times of Israel, Haaretz) picked up Bulgarian news stories that identified the Bulgarian suicide bomber as Mehdi Ghezali, a 33-year old Swede who was held at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2004 and was subsequently transferred to and released by the Swedish government. However, both the Bulgarian and Swedish governments have denied that the bomber was Ghezali (Haaretz, NBC, Miami Herald), and the Bulgarian government is apparently using DNA from a finger recovered at the scene to identify the bomber. Politico also reports that the Pentagon is still trying to confirm whether Ghezali was the bomber.
We will update as more information about the bomber's identity is released.
Alan Z. Rozenshtein is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, a senior editor at Lawfare, and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he served as an Attorney Advisor with the Office of Law and Policy in the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.
