Bulgaria makes image of suicide bomber's face

An illustration handout provided on August 1, 2012 shows the the suspected bomber who blew up a bus carrying Israeli tourists last month at the Bulgarian airport of Burgas.

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian experts have constructed an image of the face of a suicide bomber who killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver on the Black Sea coast two weeks ago, the interior minister said on Wednesday.

The computer-generated image shows a man aged around 30, with swept-back black hair and dark eyes.

The bomber blew up the bus in a car park at Burgas airport, a popular gateway for tourists visiting Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, also killing himself and wounding more than 30 people.

"The police did not release any earlier photos of the bomber, who was decapitated in the explosion, as they would have shocked the public," Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told reporters.

"The badly damaged face of the bomber was reconstructed thanks to modern technology, supplied to Bulgaria by partner services," Tsvetanov said, adding the man, who has not been identified, had spent some 20 days in the Balkan country before the attack.

Israel has accused Iran and the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah of being behind the bombing. Iran has denied the charge and accused Israel of plotting and carrying out the attack.

In a video of the run-up to the July 18 attack, released by police, the bomber wore checked Bermuda shorts and a blue t-shirt and carried a small rucksack. He had long dark curly hair, which appeared to be a wig, under dark blue cap.

(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Jon Hemming)