Former king of Bulgaria 'was KGB spy'

Berlin: The former king of Bulgaria, who returned to the country after half a century of communist-imposed exile, was a KGB spy, it has been alleged.

The accusation comes as the country delves through its communist-era files to discover the identity of former collaborators and informants.

But instead of producing the intended "healing effect on society", the process has resulted in political mayhem and mudslinging, with a host of high-profile casualties.

Georgi Parvanov, the current president, has already been denounced as one of 139 leading figures, including 19 serving politicians, who worked as informants for the Soviet-era secret service that riddled Bulgaria until 1989.

But now, members of Bulgaria's opposition has claimed that former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was recruited by Soviet secret services during his long exile in Spain.