Al-Qaeda group 'behind blasts'

2006-03-26 22:39

Ismailya - Egypt on Sunday for the first time blamed an Islamist movement that has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda for a string of deadly bomb attacks in Sinai resorts.

State security court prosecutor Hisham Badawi said a group calling itself Al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) was behind the attacks in the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh in July last year and Taba in October 2004 which together killed about 100 people.

A group with that name pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri had previously claimed responsibility for the attacks, which dealt a new blow to Egypt's vital tourism industry.

Badawi made his statement at the resumption of the trial of suspects over the bombings in Taba and nearby resorts in 2004 which killed 34 people including several Israelis.

Previously, Egyptian officials have blamed local Bedouin with links to Islamist groups for the bombings and insisted they were not working with international terror groups.

Badawi presented before the high court 13 new accused, in addition to the two already on trial since July 2005 for the Taba attack in a process whose hearings have been regularly adjourned.

"During the interrogations in progress for the Sharm el-Sheikh attacks, the accused have acknowledged having carried out similar attacks in Taba," he told the court.

Badawi said Khalid Moussaid Salem, who was killed during a clash with police in the Sinai in September 2005, was the ringleader of the group who obtained the explosives used in the car bombings.

The new accused pleaded innocent and claimed to have been tortured to obtain their confession for participating in the attacks.

The next hearing was fixed for May 27.

Four groups had claimed the Sharm el-Sheikh bombing, including Al-Tawhid wal Jihad, which said that the attacks were revenge for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and out of allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

- AFP