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Egyptian police arrest 70

Cairo has said investigators are looking into whether there were links between the Taba and Sharm blasts

SHARM EL-SHEIK (EGYPT): Egyptian police scoured for clues on Sunday and struggled to identify dozens of the 88 persons killed in three coordinated bomb blasts that rocked this Red Sea resort, sending foreign tourists scrambling to catch flights home.

Sensitive probe

More than 70 persons have been detained in Sharm el-Sheik and elsewhere on the Sinai Peninsula for questioning over early Saturday's explosions. But none have been accused of involvement in Egypt's deadliest-ever terror attack, said security officials, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the inquiry.

The roundups appeared similar to police operations after last October's attacks at the Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, when 3,000 persons were detained and many complained of torture, according to local people and human rights groups.

Some 200 of those are believed to still be in custody, including two Egyptian suspects whose trial resumed on Sunday.

Egypt's Interior Minister has said investigators are looking into whether there were links between the Taba and Sharm blasts, which both took place despite the massive presence of Egyptian security forces in Sinai, a strategically important area bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Security officials said four terrorists carried out the coordinated series of attacks on the Ghazala Garden Hotel and a nearby car park in Naama Bay and three km away at a crowded coffee shop in an area called the Old Market shortly after 1 a.m..

The officials said the four men had driven into Sharm along desert tracks from the north of the city while hiding at least 400 kg of explosives under vegetables in their vehicles.

Two of the men left a green Isuzu packed with explosives in the Old Market area, which later exploded after apparently being set off by a timing device, the officials claimed. Two suspected militants in the other vehicle, a white pickup truck, carried out the other blasts, the officials claimed. — AP

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