A Lebanese army soldier stands guard near fire trucks at the scene of a reported pager device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon on September 18, 2024. Photo: AFP file

Norway's PST security police force stated on Monday that it found no reason to further investigate Norwegian connections to the supply of booby-trapped pagers to Hezbollah in Lebanon. These devices exploded in September, resulting in dozens of deaths and thousands of injuries. Israel has taken responsibility for the pager attacks, which caught Hezbollah off guard and were followed by a significant air and ground military operation against the Iran-backed militant group.

Norway's PST had initiated a preliminary investigation into any Norwegian involvement in the case after it was revealed that a Norwegian man was listed as the owner of a Bulgarian company under investigation in Bulgaria for possible links to the case. "PST's overall assessment of the findings in the case indicates that there is no basis for initiating an ordinary investigation within our mandate," PST's lawyer Haris Hrenovica told Reuters on Monday through its spokesman. He did not provide further details. PST is a counterintelligence and counterterrorism agency.

Bulgaria's security agency, DANS, stated on September 20 that it had "indisputably established" that no pagers used in the Lebanon attack were made or exported from Bulgaria. The Norwegian owner of the Bulgarian firm under investigation in Bulgaria, Rinson Jose, 39, left Norway for the United States on September 17, the day the pagers exploded in Lebanon. He had previously worked in sales at a Norwegian employer, DN Media Group, which filed a missing persons case with the police. The police closed the missing persons case on November 5 after Jose contacted the employer. Norwegian authorities did not disclose Jose's whereabouts. When Reuters called his Norwegian phone number on Monday, a voice message indicated that the phone was switched off. He did not respond to a request for comment on WhatsApp.

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