Global Islamic war against Western influences or a local grudge may have motivated the terror attacks that rocked an Egyptian Red Sea resort over the weekend, analysts here said on Monday. Egyptian police were looking for at least six Pakistani citizens on Monday. Press reports said they may have played a key role in the worst terrorist attack in Egypt in decades. Egyptian authorities said they found passports belonging to the six in another hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh but the men who owned the passports had disappeared.
| If they were Pakistanis, they'll have more than one passport. |
One of the six may have died in the bombings, reports said. Ninety-five people have been arrested so far. Sixty-four people have been confirmed dead in the attacks early Saturday morning, but other reports put the toll higher, at 88. Two car bombs and a suitcase bomb exploded at three different locations -- including the lobby of the Ghazala Garden hotel, a parking lot and an open market in Sharm el-Sheikh early Saturday morning.
Sharm el-Sheikh is a luxury resort along the Red Sea Coast in the southern Sinai. It has hosted a number of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts, including in the one in February involving Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. "With the current global atmosphere of Islamic militancy, the high tide of attacks against Western targets spilled over to Egypt," said Professor Ariel Merari, head of the political violence research unit at Tel Aviv University. "Islamic militancy finds encouragement in general in the Middle East picture -- fighting the American crusaders. Their motivation [has been] rejuvenated," said Merari. |