Bulgaria rejects claims of arms exports to Syria

By Ihvan Radoykov

SOFIA, Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s foreign minister on Thursday rejected claims that his country had been exporting arms to Syrian fighters.

Daniel Mitov told reporters Bulgaria had not exported weapons to Syria since 2011.

Mitov also dismissed media claims that Bulgarian-made weapons and munitions were found inside opposition-controlled arsenals in Aleppo, which recently fell to forces backing Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

A regional prosecutor has launched a probe into the reports of arms exports, which one Bulgarian journalist, Dilyana Gaytancieva, attributed to a company called Arcus -- a Bulgarian weapons manufacturer.

Company officials denied the claims, saying a detailed report of their exports would be shared at the beginning of the new year.