Bulgaria's secret police file-keeper dies

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The man who kept the files of Bulgaria's Communist-era secret police was found dead just weeks before the files were scheduled to be released.

Bulgarian prosecutors said Bozhidar Doychev killed himself at his desk for what appeared to be personal reasons, the BBC said Saturday. However, opposition leaders accused the government of a cover-up because of a delay in revealing information.

Bulgarian officials said Doychev was found on Wednesday and opposition leaders called the two-day delay in announcing his death suspicious, the BBC said.

The country's now-defunct Darzhavna Sigurnost was one of the Cold War's most infamous networks. Experts say the files may shed light on the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and the poisoned umbrella slaying of dissident Georgi Markov, who worked for the BBC's Bulgarian Service.