Egyptian resort town fenced in

2005-10-17 21:14

Cairo - Egypt started building a wire fence around Sharm el-Sheikh's tourist spots in a bid to prevent attackers from crossing into the Red Sea resort that was hit by deadly bombings in July, a security official said on Monday.

"The fence aims to block cars from entering tourist areas except from four designated points and thus prevent possible terror attacks," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The fence would span 20km, stand one-and-a-half metres high, and be patrolled by security forces, the official said.

He said work started on Saturday, but did not say when it would end.

Once the fence is complete, access to the city will be restricted to police-monitored entry points, equipped with state-of-the-art explosive detection equipment, he said.

The opposition newspaper Al-Wafd put the fence price tag at 20 million Egyptian pounds ($3.5m) but did not say how it obtained the figure.

Criticism over wall

"How is Egypt different from the government of (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon) that built a separation wall to stop the Palestinian resistance?" it wrote on its front page.

"This wall seeks to keep Sinai Bedouins out of Sharm el-Sheikh but it will only separate the state from its citizens, it will not prevent terrorism, it will increase it," it said.

The security official insisted the fence "is not meant to stop any particular group of people but prevent terrorist attacks".

The July suicide attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh killed about 70 people in Egypt's worst terror attack.

Last year, another spate of bombings hit Taba near the border with Israel and left 34 people dead, among them Israelis.

Egypt has arrested and killed several men in connection with the bombings, most of them Sinai Bedouins.

Police also suspect isolated Palestinian militant cells of having participated in the attacks.

Israel charged earlier this month that the al-Qaeda network had established a base in the Sinai peninsula - a claim squarely denied by Egypt.

- AFP