Authorities have issued a global arrest warrant for a Norwegian linked to the detonation of communication units utilized by the Lebanese group Hezbollah, police mentioned Thursday.
Rinson Jose, a Norwegian-Indian man linked to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah that exploded final week, has been reported lacking.
Jose, 39, disappeared whereas on a piece journey to the U.S. final week. He is a founding father of a Bulgarian firm that was reportedly a part of the pager provide chain.
“Yesterday, Sept. 25, the Oslo police district received a missing person report in connection with the pager case,” Oslo police mentioned in an e mail to Reuters.
“A missing persons case has been opened, and we have sent out an international warrant for the person,” it added.
Hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies detonated throughout Lebanon final week, killing at the very least 37 individuals and wounding almost 3,000 in an assault extensively blamed on Israel, which has refused to remark.
Jose declined to touch upon the pagers when reached by cellphone final Wednesday, Sept. 18, and hung up when requested concerning the Bulgarian business. He didn’t return repeated calls and textual content messages.
Jose’s Norwegian employer, DN Media Group, mentioned he left for a convention in Boston on Sept. 17, and the corporate has not been capable of attain him since Sept. 18. He works on the group’s gross sales division.
In 2022, Jose based Sofia-based firm Norta Global Ltd, Bulgaria’s company registry reveals.
Bulgaria has investigated the corporate’s position within the provide of booby-trapped pagers however has discovered no proof that they had been made or exported from the nation.
Hungarian web site Telex reported that Norta Global had imported the units after which delivered them to Hezbollah.
Bulgaria’s National Security Agency (SANS) later mentioned the corporate had nothing to do with the supply of the exploding units, however Oslo police mentioned they’d opened a “preliminary investigation into the information that has emerged.”
Norta Global, based in April 2022, final 12 months declared income of 650,000 euros ($725,000) for consulting actions outdoors the European Union.
Source: www.dailysabah.com