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| Africa: North |
| More on the great Egyptian escape |
| 2004-10-13 |
| All four bombers who attacked Egyptian Red Sea resorts frequented by Israelis last week escaped on foot minutes before their vehicles exploded, Egyptian government newspaper al-Ahram has reported. The bombers used three vehicles -- a Peugeot 504 station wagon, a small Nissan delivery vehicle and a pick-up truck in which the explosives were hidden under crates of vegetables, the newspaper said on Wednesday, quoting a senior security official. The explosions, at the Hilton hotel at Taba on the Israeli border and at two holiday camps further south, killed 33 or 34 people, according to conflicting sources, including at least 12 Israelis. The other victims were Egyptians, two Italians, a Russian and several who have not yet been identified. Al-Ahram said all the vehicles came from within Egypt, one from the Greater Cairo area but it did give any information about the identity or nationality of the bombers. The newspaper said the attack bore the hallmarks of an operation by the al Qaeda organisation and was similar to attacks on the HSBC bank in Istanbul last November and at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in August 2003. But the fact the bombers abandoned their vehicles and ran away rules out suicide attacks -- an element assumed by some of the experts who pointed the finger at al Qaeda. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |