The Hindu : Front Page : Blasts in Egyptian resort kill 88

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Sunday, Jul 24, 2005

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Blasts in Egyptian resort kill 88

Al-Qaeda-linked group claims responsibility

SHARM EL-SHEIKH (EGYPT): At least 88 people were killed in a string of bomb attacks that rocked this tourist-packed Red Sea resort early on Saturday. Nine foreigners were among the victims.

At least three consecutive explosions went off shortly after 1 a.m. One of them destroyed the Ghazala Garden hotel on the resort's main stretch, another detonated in a car park and a third bomb ripped through the town's Old Market.

The death toll could rise, rescue workers said. The lobby of the 176-room hotel in Naama Bay collapsed into a pile of concrete.

Several hours after the attacks, a group citing ties to the Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the explosions on an Islamic website. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Al-Qaeda, in Syria and Egypt, was one of two extremist groups that also claimed responsibility for the October bombings at the Egyptian resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan that killed 34. It claimed responsibility for a Cairo bombing in late April as well.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. But a top Egyptian official said there were some indications the latest bombings were linked to the Taba explosions.

``We have some clues, especially about the car that was exploded in the Old Market,'' said Interior Minister Habib al-Adli.

The United States, Israel and European and West Asian countries condemned the attacks, and neighbouring Jordan said it was immediately tightening security at its tourist sites.

Sharm el-Sheik has expanded at a furious pace in recent years, making it a major player in Egypt's vital tourism industry, drawing Europeans, Israelis and Arabs from oil-producing Gulf nations.

The town has been host to multiple summits for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The attacks in Taba ended a long halt in Egyptian militant violence.

The last major attack was in 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at the Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor in southern Egypt.

There were signs that the bombings were by suicide attackers.

- Agencies

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