http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/603642.html
Egyptians attending the scene of a series of attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday. (Reuters) Last update - 12:32 23/07/2005 At least 65 dead in blasts in Egyptian Red Sea resorts By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh early Saturday, ripping through a hotel and a coffeeshop packed with European and Egyptian tourists. Minister Mohammed Awad Tag Eddin said at least 65 people died in the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade. Shaken European tourists spoke of mass panic and hysteria as people fled the carnage in the early hours, with bodies strewn across the roads, people screaming and sirens wailing. Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adli earlier said 119 people were wounded and that at least eight foreigners were among the dead. Officials said that the victims included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris and Egyptians. Advertisement "Many of the injuries are very serious and they are in critical condition," said a doctor at Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital, who asked not to be named. The Foreign Ministry reported one Israeli-Arab woman was lightly injured in the blasts and was being treated in the International Hospital. She was later identified as Saneh Hussein from the village of Musmus in Wadi Ara. Representatives of the Israeli embassy in Cairo were making their way to the site of the attacks to determine if any other Israeli nationals were injured in the blasts. A string of three car bombs Police said the explosions were caused by three car bombs in Sharm el-Sheikh and the nearby resort of Naama Bay. One blast went off in the driveway of the Ghazala Gardens hotel, a 176-room four-star resort on the main strip of hotels in Naama Bay, said the governor of South Sinai province, Mustafa Afifi. El-Adli later said that the bombers had shot dead the security guard at the entrance to the hotel before detonating the bomb. The reception hall of the luxury Ghazala Gardens hotel collapsed into a pancaked pile of concrete, sending terrified guests fleeing for safety, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. Rescue workers hours later said they feared more victims may be buried under the rubble. A second car bomb exploded in a parking area near the Movenpick Hotel, also in Naama Bay, said a receptionist there who declined to identify himself. The third detonated at a mini-bus parking lot in the Old Market, an area about four kilometers away, killing 17 people. A security official in the Cairo operations control room monitoring the crisis said he believed most of these casualties were Egyptians sitting at a nearby outdoor coffee shop. Three minibuses were set ablaze, though it was not clear if they were carrying passengers, the official said. "The [Ghazala] hotel was completely burned down, destroyed," said Amal Mustafa, 28, an Egyptian who was visiting Sharm with her family and who drove by the Ghazala Gardens. Naama Bay has dozens of luxury hotels popular with divers and holidaymakers from Europe. Khaled Sakran, a Sharm resident, said he saw the first blast from the Old Market. "I saw the saw the fire in the sky," he said. "Right after, I saw a light in the sky and heard another explosion, coming from Naama Bay." Although the explosions took place after 1 A.M., the bazaars would have been busy with holidaymakers at this time of year because the daytime is so hot, residents said. Ahmed Fawzi, an Egyptian lawyer visiting Naama Bay on business, told Reuters that one of the explosions ripped the door of his office off its hinges. A resident living 10 km from Sharm el-Sheikh said the explosions had shaken the windows of his house. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has a holiday villa in the Golf Hotel, close to the Moevenpick. Al-Qaida-linked group claims responsibility A group citing ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for Saturday's Sharm el-Sheikh bombings that killed at least 62 people, according to a statement posted on an Islamic Web site. The group, calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaida, in Syria and Egypt, said that its "holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens hotel and the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh." The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified. The brigades were one of two Islamist groups that claimed responsibility for the October 7 bombings at Sinai Peninsula Taba and Ras Shitan that killed 34 people. "Your brothers, the holy warriors of the martyr Abdullah Azzam Brigades succeeded in launching a smashing attack on the Crusaders, Zionists and the renegade Egyptian regime in Sharm el-Sheikh," said the statement. "We reaffirm that this operation was in response to the crimes committed by the forces of international evil, which are spilling the blood of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechny." "We declare it loud and clear that we will not be frightened by the whips of the Egyptian torturers and we will not tolerate violation of our brothers' land of Sinai," the statement added in an apparent reference to tourists who travel from neighboring Israel to Sinai Peninsula for holidays. Interior Minister el-Adli had earlier on pinned the attack on Islamic militants. "This is an ugly act of terrorism," el-Adli said in a statement carried on the government news agency. "It has nothing to do with Islam, they are only acting under the slogan of Islam. Egyptian Tourism Minister Ahmed el-Maghrabi told Egyptian television "What happened early this morning is rejected by all people. These criminal gangs will not be able to prevent people from travelling and moving." He added "There is no doubt that these incidents will have an effect in the short term [on tourism]." The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has set up an emergency situation room, which is in contact with the embassy in Cairo in an effort to establish if any Israelis are among the casualties. The situation room has been inundated with calls from concerned Israelis who have family members in Sinai. The Sinai Red Sea resorts are popular among Israeli tourists, although many prefer to spend their holidays in the northern resorts, closer to the border with Israel. Taba border crossing officials reported that Israelis continued crossing into Sinai during the night. Click here for a chronology of attacks on tourist targets in Egypt. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/