site.btaSocialists Meet with Relatives of 2003 Iraq Bombing Victims

Sofia, December 26 (BTA) - High-ranking members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) on Tuesday met with relatives of Bulgarian military who were killed in Iraq 14 years ago, the party's press office reported. BSP Chairwoman Kornelia Ninova said: "These people feel forgotten, they feel their children are forgotten. Both to the relatives and to us, the boys who were killed are heroes."

On December 27, 2003, a truck bomb hit the Bulgarian base in Karbala, Iraq, killing five servicepersons, injuring another 27 and seriously damaging the facility.

The BSP leadership vowed to re-publish the book "Dedicated to Duty," which describes the lives of the Karbala victims, and to make a documentary film.

Ninova said the Social Insurance Code should be amended to give an allowance to the parents of servicepersons who have died in overseas missions, similar to the allowance received by the parents of conscripts who died in the line of duty. The proposal will be submitted to the National Assembly in the early days of January.

A memorial plaque will be put up in Sofia to commemorate the Karbala victims, Ninova went on to say. "All this is an expression of normal human respect for those killed and for their families who feel forgotten," she noted. The future memorial could also be a place for other military preparing for missions abroad to pay floral tributes before leaving.