Egypt: U.S. withheld evidence of missiles in area of crash

Tuesday, August 15, 2000

CAIRO -- Egypt has continued its offensive against a report of a U.S. investigation into the October crash of an EgyptAir flight off the coast of Massachusetts.

Egyptian officials said the National Transportation Safety Board withheld radar images and evidence of pilots who said they saw missiles in the area where the plane crashed on Oct. 31. All 217 people aboard were killed the Boeing 767.

"This American stance is evidence of concealing facts, and we demand the release of these radar images and to hear the testimony of the two pilots, one German and one Jordanian, that they saw missiles where the Egyptian plane crashed," said Walid Murad, head of the Egyptian pilots' federation.

Murad's assertion was the latest by Egypt that Washington did not fully cooperate in the nearly year-long probe of the crash. The dispute stems over what caused the downing of the passenger jet.

Egypt has raised the prospect of mechanical failure. The NTSB report rules this out and U.S. investigators have suggested that a co-pilot downed the plane in a suicide crash.

In a Cairo news conference, Murad said U.S. investigators explained that they could not release radar images because of U.S. national security. "This is a weak excuse," he said.

Publicly, Egyptian officials are trying to limit the damage of the NTSB report. Egypt's Transportation Minister Ibrahim Dumeiri denied that Washington failed to cooperate and urged patience.

The minister said a final report on the crash will be released in November. "It is wrong to second-guess the reasons behind the crash," Dumeiri said.

On Tuesday, the family of the co-pilot, Gamil Batouti, plans to hold a news conference to protest the release of FBI reports that he had allegedly exposed himself to staff and guests of a New York hotel.