CAIRO — Suspected Al Qaida insurgents detonated several car bombs in the Red Sea
resort of Sharm e-Sheik on early Saturday, in the bloodiest terror attack here ever.
At least 88 people were killed
and 200 injured in at least three bombings, one of which struck a luxury
hotel, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said all but seven of the casualties were Egyptian nationals.
The hotel targeted contained Europeans, Kuwaitis and Saudis.
Two groups aligned with Al Qaida claimed responsibility. One of them,
the Abdullah Azzam
Brigades, which posted an announcement on an Islamic website, also claimed
responsibility for the October 2004 bombings in Sinai in which 34 people
were killed. In April 2005, the group also claimed responsibility for a
bombing in Cairo.
"Holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens Hotel and the Old Market in
Sharm e-Sheik," the statement said.
Officials said a minibus exploded in the Old Market area of Sharm in
front of a cafe packed with Egyptians. Another vehicle, driven by a suicide
attacker and filled with at least 300 kilograms of explosives, tore through
the front entrance of the hotel and exploded in the lobby.
''We have some clues, especially about the car that was exploded in the
Old Market, and investigators are pursuing this,'' Egyptian Interior
Minister
Habib Adli said.
Adli said the Sharm bombing appeared to be linked to the October 2004
strikes in Taba and Nueiba. In those attacks, most of the casualties were
Egyptians.
Witnesses said the two minibuses that exploded contained license plates
from the Sinai resort of Taba, along the Israeli border. They said the
driver in the Old Market fled his vehicle before the explosion.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who maintains a residence in the
southern Sinai town, flew into Sharm and inspected the site of the hotel
targeted by the bombers. The tourism industry has been a leading source of
foreign currency in Egypt and the Tourism Ministry expected eight million
tourists to arrive in Egypt for the winter season.
"This will only make us more determined to pursue and uproot terrorism,"
Mubarak said in a statement. "We will not submit to blackmail or seek a
truce."
