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Egypt Detains 70 People for Resort Attacks | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Sharm el-Sheik old market aftter explosion (AP)


Sharm el-Sheik old market aftter explosion (AP)

Sharm el-Sheik old market aftter explosion (AP)

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt, AP- Egyptian police searched for clues Sunday and struggled to identify bodies from the 88 people killed in three bomb blasts that rocked this Red Sea resort, sending foreign tourists scrambling to catch flights home.

More than 70 people have been detained in Sharm el-Sheik and elsewhere on the Sinai Peninsula for questioning over the bombings early Saturday. 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 people were detained and many complained of torture, according to locals and human rights groups.

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

Egypt”s interior minister has said investigators are looking into whether there were links between the Taba and Sharm blasts on the Sinai, a strategically important area bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Local investigators are also examining the possibility that foreigners carried out the latest attacks that leveled the reception area of the luxury Ghazala Garden Hotel in Sharm el-Sheik”s popular Naama Bay district and ripped apart a coffee house crowded with Egyptians in the nearby Old Market.

Those blasts, plus a third smaller bomb apparently concealed in a bag that exploded along a Naama Bay boardwalk, have sent shock waves through this country”s vital tourism industry.

&#34It”s not just my job that”s at risk today. It”s everyone”s here,&#34 said Mohammed Ahmed, 32, chief of a marine rescue team. &#34It”s all about tourists — if they don”t come, we don”t work.&#34

Naama Bay”s wide streets and soft, sandy beaches were virtually empty of tourists Sunday, with many remaining inside hotels. Workers labored to repair damaged souvenir shop fronts under a hot midday sun.

Policemen were present in large numbers around bomb blast sites and eerily quiet restaurant strips.

Some airlines have flown extra planes to Sharm to carry home tourists wanting to cut short holidays.

Egyptian health officials say at least 34 of the victims have yet to be identified. Those killed were mostly Egyptians, but among the dead were at least seven Westerners including two Britons, two Germans, an Italian and a Czech.

Local officials in South Sinai, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bodies have been taken to the peninsula”s capital of Tor, where there is a larger morgue. At least 119 people were also wounded.

Two rival claims of responsibility have emerged but neither statement could be authenticated.

One group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades of al-Qaida in Syria and Egypt, also claimed responsibility for the October bombings in Taba and for a dual shooting-bomb attack in April in Cairo.

Also, the previously unknown Holy Warriors of Egypt discounted the al-Qaida claim and said it had carried out Saturday”s attack in Sharm.

Police have said the well-coordinated attacks appeared to target holes in the resort”s security.

One suicide bomber barreled his car packed with 660 pounds of explosives through the driveway of the Ghazala, one of the few hotels whose reception area is easily accessible from the main road.

Some two miles away, the Old Market has no security checks, unlike parking areas along the main hotel strip, a security official involved in the investigation told The Associated Press.

President Hosni Mubarak visits the site of an explosion at the Ghazala Gardens hotel (AP)

President Hosni Mubarak visits the site of an explosion at the Ghazala Gardens hotel (AP)

A picture shows destruction in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh (AFP)

A picture shows destruction in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh (AFP)