Taiwan and Bulgaria Deny Involvement in Lebanon Pager Explosions as Investigation Unfolds

Taiwan, Bulgaria deny links to exploding pagers in Lebanon, probe underway

Authorities in Taiwan and Bulgaria on Friday denied involvement in the supply chain of thousands of pagers that detonated on Tuesday in Lebanon in a deadly blow to Hezbollah. Tuesday's attack, and another on Wednesday involving exploding hand-held radios used by Hezbollah, together killed 37 people and wounded about 3,000 in Lebanon. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp How or when the pagers were weaponised and remotely detonated remains a public mystery and the hunt for answers has involved Taiwan, Bulgaria, Norway and Romania. Security sources said Israel was responsible for the pager explosions that raised the stakes in a growing conflict between the two sides. Israel has not directly commented on the attacks. Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said this week it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that Budapest-based company BAC to which the pagers were traced has a license to use its brand. "The components are (mainly) low-end IC (integrated circuits) and batteries," Taiwan's Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters. More From This Section Tech giants embark on final push to dilute European Union's AI Act For Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils, election does not offer hope Nippon Steel to sell $211 mn in assets to manage debt amid US Steel deal 6 personnel killed, 11 injured in terror attack in Pak's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Huawei's $2,800 tri-fold phone hits stores as people face supply concerns When pressed on whether the parts in the pagers that exploded were made in Taiwan, he said, "I can say with certainty they were not made in Taiwan," adding the case is being investigated by judicial authorities. Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, also speaking to reporters at parliament, answered "no" when asked if he had met with the de facto Israeli ambassador to express concern about the case. "We are asking our missions abroad to raise their security awareness and will exchange relevant information with other countries." Bulgaria also became a focal point for investigations on Thursday after local media reported that Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd was involved in selling the pagers. But Bulgaria's state security agency DANS said on Friday it had "indisputably established" that no pagers used in the Lebanon attack were imported to, exported from, or made in Bulgaria. It also said that neither Norta nor its Norwegian owner had traded, sold or bought the pagers within Bulgaria's jurisdiction. Taiwan probe As Taiwanese authorities look into any potential link between its sprawling global tech supply chains and the devices used in the attacks in Lebanon, Gold Apollo's president and founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, was questioned by prosecutors late into the night on Thursday, then released. Another person also at the prosecutors office was Teresa Wu, the sole employee of a company called Apollo System, who did not speak to reporters as she left late on Thursday. Hsu said this week a person called Teresa had been one of his contacts for the deal with BAC. A spokesperson for the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in Taipei told Reuters that it had questioned two people as witnesses and was given consent to conduct searches of their firms' four locations in Taiwan as part of its investigation. "We'll seek to determine if there was any possible involvement of these Taiwanese companies as soon as possible, to ensure the safety of the country and its people," the spokesperson said. Iran-aligned Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for the detonations. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since conflict in Gaza erupted last October. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Also Read Taiwan questions head of pager firm linked to recent Hezbollah blasts Taiwan denounces China for suspending tariff exemptions on farm goods Taiwan detects 20 Chinese military aircraft, 10 vessels near territory Hungary based co made pagers that exploded in Lebanon: Taiwanese firm Taiwan firm Gold Apollo denies it made pagers used in Lebanon attacks

Taiwan questions head of pager firm linked to recent Hezbollah blasts

The president and founder of a Taiwanese pager company linked to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon was questioned by prosecutors late into the night on Thursday, then released. Taiwan-based Gold Apollo's president and founder Hsu Ching-kuang has said it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that they were made by a Budapest-based company BAC which has a licence to use its brand. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. Hsu declined to answer reporters questions as he left one of the Taipei offices of Taiwan prosecutors late Thursday. Calls to the prosecutors office before office hours on Friday were not answered. Taipei prosecutors have not issued any statements so far about their investigations into Gold Apollo. Another person also seen leaving the prosecutors office was Teresa Wu, the sole employee of a company called Apollo Systems Ltd, who did not speak to reporters as she left the prosecutors late on Thursday. Hsu said this week a person called Teresa had been one of his contacts for the deal with Hungary-based firm BAC. Company records show Apollo Systems was set up by Wu in April this year. It was not immediately clear what the relationship is between her company and BAC. More From This Section Google antitrust trial: Documents say one thing, witnesses something else Eli Lilly wants records of people who took copies of its weight-loss drug Social media users lack control over data used by AI, says US FTC Donald Trump's new tariff plan falls well short of filling his budget hole Mercedes slashes financial forecast in latest blow to German industry Taiwan's government has said it is investigating what happened and police have made several visits to Hsu's company, in a small, unassuming office in Taipei's next door city of New Taipei. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday. According to a senior Lebanese security source and another source, explosives inside the devices were planted by Israel's Mossad spy agency. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for the detonations. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Also Read Taiwan denounces China for suspending tariff exemptions on farm goods Taiwan detects 20 Chinese military aircraft, 10 vessels near territory Hungary based co made pagers that exploded in Lebanon: Taiwanese firm Taiwan firm Gold Apollo denies it made pagers used in Lebanon attacks Taiwan detects 22 Chinese aircraft, six naval vessels around territory