One man was shot dead and another wounded in a shooting that took place at noon at a busy crossing in Sofia. Arms trader Philip Pavlov Naydenov, 40, born with the Kurdish name Fatik, fell victim of the attack. The other man -- Rumen Zhelyazkov -- drove to a hospital where he underwent surgery.

Masked men sprayed bullets from their car at the silver Mercedes of Fatik at the main the boulevards Bulgaria and Gotse Delchev.

Following the attack, the traffic in the region was blocked. Some thirty cartridge-cases were found at the crime scene.

The killers are most probably Arabs, Bulgaria's Interior Chief Secretary Gen. Boyko Borisov said. He insisted that the killing must be linked to the busted drug traffic channel of Bolivian cocaine. "Fatik have been investigated not only by the Bulgarian police but also by foreign services," Gen. Borissov said.

Kurdish-born Fatik adopted Bulgarian citizenship and changed his name in the early 90s.

Bulgarian media claim that Fatik and his father Shaban were involved in drugs and arms traffic even before 1989. Shaban Fatik has set up the channels of Bulgaria's state owned company Kintex that was allegedly involved in arms traffic. Shaban Fatik was on the list of Interpol wanted people and was in hiding in Bulgaria where the communist government protected him.

Rumours also have it that that the business activity of Fatik was linked to giant MG Corporation, whose founder Iliya Pavlov was shot dead on March 8, 2003 in front of the corporation's headquarters in Sofia.