Egypt hunts for six suspects
2005-07-25 10:05
Sharm El-Sheikh - Egypt is hunting for six Pakistani nationals suspected of involvement in the devastating triple bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh, police said on Monday.
Pictures of the suspects were distributed to police stations in the Sharm-el-Sheikh area of the southern Sinai peninsula, police in Cairo said, adding that one of them could have died in Saturday's blasts.
At least 95 people have already been arrested in a police dragnet as part of a massive search for the perpetrators of Saturday's bombings that killed 88 people, adding to global fears after deadly attacks in London.
At least nine foreigners were killed and some 20 people were injured.
Al-Qaeda responsible
Pakistan has come under increased international pressure to crack down on Islamic militants after it emerged some of the bombers in the July 7 attacks in London, British Muslims of Pakistani descent, had recently visited the country.
Saturday's pre-dawn attacks in Sharm, which analysts said were an attempt to destabilise Egypt in the run-up to the first-ever competitive presidential election just weeks away, were claimed by an al-Qaeda-linked group.
Security forces have been sweeping the Sinai peninsula since the explosions - two of them suicide car bombs - struck a luxury seafront hotel, a car park and a busy market area.
DNA samples to be investigated
Interior minister Habib al-Adly claimed investigators already had leads and suggested the attacks could be connected to deadly anti-Israeli bombings on October 7 in Taba and Nuweiba further north on the Sinai coast.
Security sources said DNA samples on the remains of one of the suicide car bombers would be compared to those of detained Taba suspects to establish whether they were related.
"This cowardly and criminal act which is aimed at destabilising Egypt will reinforce our determination to press the battle against terror through to its eradication," said President Hosni Mubarak.
Another bomb scare
Cairo faced harsh criticism from Israel for its failure to crack down on militants following the October bombings.
Meanwhile, forensic experts continued to identify the victims of the blasts, the largest of which destroyed the Ghazala Garden hotel and accounted for around half of the victims.
Medics said some bodies were burnt or mangled beyond recognition and the identification process could take some time, while also warning that the death toll could rise further as many wounded were in critical condition.
A new scare on Sunday hit the capital Cairo, scene of deadly attacks against tourists in the 1990s, where police initially said a man was critically wounded by the accidental explosion of his own bomb.
However, the interior ministry later denied there had been a bomb and explaining the 33-year-old man was a collector of vintage items and was wounded by the explosion of one of his objects.