Posted on 10/08/2004 11:21:02 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
TABA, Egypt - Rescuers Friday dug through the debris of a luxury hotel for victims of a series of bombs at resorts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that are popular with Israelis. At least 27 people were killed, with more than 100 wounded, and officials feared the death toll would rise. Israel's intelligence chief told Cabinet ministers Friday that the bombings at Egyptian resorts were most likely carried out by al-Qaida.
The intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, made the assessment at an emergency Cabinet meeting convened a day after the deadly bombings, which wounded more than 120.
Thousands of frightened Israeli tourists rushed back home, streaming into Eilat just across the border Friday morning. Many complained bitterly that Egyptian authorities prevented tourists from leaving the hotels after the blasts and delayed them at the border.
Israeli and Egyptian rescuers searched the shattered Taba Hilton, where at least four people still were believed to be buried by the biggest blast that sheared outer rooms off a 10-story wing. Israeli military rescuer Gefan Naty told The Associated Press it was unlikely any more survivors would be found.
"I don't believe anyone is still alive. We just pulled out one child," about 10 years old, who was dead, Naty said.
Israel's Cabinet met Friday to discuss the attacks, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s office said he and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites) agreed by telephone that they must fight terrorism together.
Sinai's resorts were particularly crowded Thursday, the last day of the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot, when thousands of Israelis vacation there.
The most devastating of the bombings was at the Hilton, where a car laden with explosives crashed into the lobby and detonated, an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity. There were reports of a second or third explosion in the compound, one of which may have been a suicide bomber.
Two smaller blasts quickly followed in Ras Shitan, a camping area near the town of Nuweiba, 35 miles south of Taba.
The burned-out shell of a vehicle rested inside a meeting room at the Hilton, although officials would not say if it had carried the explosives.
Sheets and blankets tied to the Hilton's balconies showed the frantic efforts by guests to flee. Stairs of a fire escape were twisted perpendicular to the building. Business cards, CDs, bottles and cans, and personal items were scattered around. Burned cars sat outside the hotel.
Naty said a mother and daughter fell from the seventh floor; the mother died of her injuries, but the daughter survived.
Naty said he believed rescue workers could have saved the mother if they been allowed to get to the scene earlier, but Egyptian authorities, for some reason, delayed their arrival.
Egyptian government spokesman Magdy Rady denied it.
"There was no such a thing — no delay at all. Don't believe the Israelis," Rady told the AP.
By late Friday morning, most of the rescue workers at the scene were Israelis, wearing military uniforms or red rescue jackets. A few Egyptian security officials also were present.
There were varying reports on casualties.
Gideon Meir, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, said 27 people were confirmed dead. The Egyptian Interior Ministry said 22 died.
An official at Taba hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP 24 people were killed, including five Israelis, seven Egyptians and the rest foreigners whose nationalities were not immediately determined. Most of the deaths were at the Hilton. Israel radio reported 14 of the dead were Israelis.
More than 100 people were injured, with one report saying as many as 160, and at least two Britons were among the wounded. The Russian Foreign Ministry said an elderly Russian woman was among the dead and eight Russians were wounded.
Meir Frajun told of his frantic search for his three children, who were playing one floor below the lobby when the blast occurred. At first, he found only two.
"Everything was filled with smoke," Frajun told the AP after crossing into the nearby Israeli resort of Eilat. "We were hysterically looking for the child. In the end, we found him sitting outside with an Arab guest of the hotel."
Amsalem Farrag, whose uncle and cousin own camps in Ras Shitan, said the two blasts there were only five seconds apart. He said the camps were full of vacationing Israelis.
Egypt's tourism minister, Ahmed El Maghraby, indicated the attacks were political: "Look at the timing. Look at the choice of place."
He didn't elaborate, but other officials drew links to the Israeli military operation against the Palestinians in the neighboring Gaza Strip (news - web sites), where more than 80 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli offensive that began Sept. 29.
Israel's deputy defense minister, Zeev Boim, told Israel's Army Radio that Palestinian militants apparently were not involved and he suspected al-Qaida affiliates: "On the face of things, this is different from what we are familiar with from Palestinian terrorist groups."
Mushir al-Masri, a Gaza spokesman for the Hamas militant group, denied Hamas involvement, but said the bombings were "an expected result" of Israeli operations against Palestinians.
No established groups have claimed responsibility, but three previously unknown groups claimed separately to have carried out the attacks. There was no way to confirm their authenticity.
Contributors to Islamic Web sites praised the attacks and linked them to a recent video said to have been issued by al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri.
That video, shown by Al-Jazeera television Oct. 1, called for militants to organize and attack countries that had given Israel "means of survival." The tape also urged holy warriors to fight Israelis and Americans before they enter Egypt.
The explosions came a month after the Israeli government urged citizens not to visit Egypt, citing a "concrete" terror threat to tourists. The warning, issued Sept. 9, identified Sinai as the target of a potential attack.
Egypt has long struggled with Islamic militants interested in overthrowing the secular government, but has contained the threat with periodic crackdowns and by allowing Islamists some political activity. The last major militant strike in Egypt was the 1997 massacre of 58 foreign tourists by Islamic extremists in the southern resort town of Luxor.
Four hours after the Taba blast, Israel's military took command of the scene, according to the army spokeswoman, Brig. Gen. Ruth Yaron. Shimon Romah, an Israeli fire chief, said rescue workers lost precious time because it took hours to bring heavy equipment to Taba.
"This was just a travesty, because these were four critical hours," Romah told Israel Radio.
Israeli security officials said Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and his Egyptian counterpart, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, agreed Friday to cooperate fully. The Egyptians told them a full army rescue unit would be allowed in with heavy equipment.
Egypt tightened security at its airports. Police searched cars coming in and out of Luxor and Hurghada, two southern tourist destinations, and there was a heavy police presence around hotels.
Taba is the main crossing between Israel and Egypt, and the gateway for thousands of Israelis who travel to the hotels and resorts on the Red Sea. Before the blast, 12,000 to 15,000 Israelis were believed to be in the Sinai.
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, but relations have been chilly as a result of Israeli military actions in Palestinian areas.
___
Associated Press correspondents Josef Federman in Eilat and Maggie Michael and Paul Garwood in Cairo contributed to this report.
Paging Mr. Mossad, Mr. Mossad,,,
All heads of all Middle Eastern states had best be on their highest security alerts ever.
You have been Wahhabi'd... or will be soon.
Israel Blames al-Qaida in Egypt Bombings
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=1312&e=1&u=/ap/20041008/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_terror_suspects_1
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - The deadly car bombings at two Egyptian resorts crowded with Israeli tourists bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida, Israeli officials said Friday. The Palestinian militant group Hamas denied involvement.
Israel's military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkashi, told an emergency Cabinet meeting that al-Qaida was most likely behind the attacks.
Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim cautioned that very little was known about the attackers, but he also said al-Qaida was the most likely suspect.
Hours after the blasts at the Taba Hilton and the resort of Ras Shitan in the Sinai Peninsula, no established groups had claimed responsibility. Three previously unknown groups, including one ostensibly linked to al-Qaida, published separate claims of responsibility.
A month ago, Israeli security officials had published an unusual warning that Israeli tourists should stay away from the Sinai because of concrete signs that terrorists were planning an attack there.
However, Israeli travelers largely ignored the warning, and thousands spent the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which ended Thursday, at Red Sea resorts, including the Taba Hilton.
In the Gaza Strip (news - web sites), a spokesman for the Islamic militant group Hamas denied involvement.
"Our firm stand, our firm position is that the battle is within the occupied lands (West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites)), and this stand remains the same and has not changed," Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told The Associated Press.
Since its founding in 1987, the Islamic militant group, which opposes the existence of Israel, killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings but has refrained from carrying out attacks abroad. Hamas leaders have repeatedly said their conflict is with Israel, and that they do not want to export it.
Last month, after a Hamas leader based in Syria was killed by an Israeli car bomb, some Hamas officials said they would now change their policy and target Israelis abroad. However, more senior leaders quickly stepped in and emphasized there was no change in position.
Palestinian militants have an interest in staying on good terms with the Egyptians, who are mediating Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Militants groups have been holding meetings in Cairo, to work out an agreement with the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) on power-sharing after an Israeli withdrawal.
EUrabia is safe,, for now.
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