A Bedouin tribesman has confessed to selling explosives that might have been used in three car bombings targeting Israeli tourists and investigators were looking into Palestinian militant involvement, Egyptian security officials said Sunday. The tribesman said the buyers, whom he couldn't identify, had told him the explosives would be used in the Palestinian territories, an Egyptian investigator said. "The explosives were sold on the assumption that they were going to the Palestinians," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Relatives of the attacks' 34 victims, meanwhile, mourned their dead as rescuers finished their search for victims. Israelis, Egyptians, Italians and Russians were among the victims of Thursday night's blasts. Egyptian security officials said some of dozens of Bedouins detained for questioning after the car bombings in Taba and the resort area of Ras Shitan to the south have been cooperating with authorities and have provided valuable information about the explosives. Israeli officials have complained in the past of weapons and explosives being smuggled into the Gaza strip from Sinai. The Israelis maintain they come through tunnels dug beneath the Egypt-Gaza border.
Also, Palestinian and Egyptian officials told The Associated Press that Egyptian security and intelligence officers have been discussing the attacks with officials from the Palestinian factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Egyptians were seeking information about members of the groups upset about Egypt's plan to help secure the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli withdrawal. Egypt has come under fire from some Arabs as aiding Israel; Egypt maintains it needs to ensure stability along its border in the event of a security vacuum left by Israel's departure. The officials said Egypt is not suggesting the two factions were behind the attacks, but rather are probing the possibility disgruntled defectors from the groups might have been involved. These discussions were taking place in Gaza and in some Middle East capitals, one official said without specifying which ones. On Saturday, Egyptian investigators said they suspected a group of eight to 10 terrorists carried out the attacks, possibly slipping in from Saudi Arabia or Jordan on speed boats.