Norway issues warrant for man linked to Lebanon device blasts

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NEW YORK: Pro-Palestinian protesters block traffic near the United Nations headquarters, on Thursday. The protesters, who were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, protested the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved his speech at the United Nations General Assembly from Thursday to Friday due to the fighting in Lebanon.—AFP

OSLO: A Norwegian linked to the detonation of communication devices used by Hezbollah has been reported missing, prompting authorities to issue an international arrest warrant, police said on Thursday.

Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos) confirmed that it had sent an international notice, without identifying the man. Oslo police last week opened an investigation into a Norwegian man’s alleged links to the blasts.

“A missing persons case has been opened and we have issued an international search for the person,” Mari Elise Bunaes Myhrer of the Oslo police told broadcaster NRK.

Hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies detonated across Lebanon last week, killing at least 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000 in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Bulgarian authorities opened an investigation after Hungarian website Telex reported that Norta Global — a company registered in Bulgaria by a Norwegian — had imported the devices and then delivered them to Hezbollah.

Bulgaria’s National Security Agency (Sans) later said the company had nothing to do with the delivery of the exploding devices, but Oslo police said they had opened a “preliminary investigation into the information that has emerged”.

Norta Global, founded in April 2022 by Rinson Jose, last year declared revenue of 650,000 euros for consulting activities outside the European Union. The company told the Verdens Gang newspaper last week that he has been on an overseas work trip since Sept 17 and that they had not been able to reach him.

The pagers and walkie-talkies exploded as their users were shopping in supermarkets, walking on streets and attending funerals, plunging the country into panic. The United Nations said on Friday that the detonation of the hand-held communication devices could constitute a war crime.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2024