83 Die in Car Bombs at Egyptian Resort

[dhuusa_deer]

By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer
35 minutes ago

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - A rapid series of car bombs and another blast ripped through a luxury hotel and a coffeeshop in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday, killing at least 83. Egypt's president vowed to hunt down the culprits as rescue workers said the death toll could still rise.

The attacks, Egypt's deadliest terror hit ever, came just two days after the latest strikes in London and sent an already jittery world reeling again.

With an al-Qaida-linked group claiming responsbility, Egypt tightened security at other busy tourist sites like the Pyramids and Luxor, and the government and British tourist agencies sent large aircraft to the Sinai to fly home now-nervous tourists.

Pope Benedict XVI was among world political and religious leaders deploring the attacks, calling them "senseless acts." He appealed to terrorists to renounce violence.

The attacks appeared well coordinated. Two car bombs, possibly by suicide attackers, went off simultaneously at 1:15 a.m. just more than 2 miles apart. A third bomb, believed hidden in a sack, detonated around the same time near a beachside walkway where tourists often stroll at night.

A total of 83 people were confirmed dead, said Dr. Saeed Abdel Fattah, manager of the Sharm el-Sheik International Hospital where the victims were taken. Among the dead were two Britons, two Germans and an Italian, he added, and Czech officials said one Czech tourist was also killed. Rescue workers were still searching for victims at some attack scenes.

Several hours after the attacks, a group claiming ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the explosion on an Islamic web site. The group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaida, in Syria and Egypt, was one of two extremist groups that also claimed responsibility for October bombings at the Egyptian resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan that killed 34. The group also claimed responsbility for a Cairo bombing in late April.

The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.

But a top Egyptian official said there are some indications the latest bombings were linked to last fall's Taba explosions.

"We have some clues, especially about the car that was exploded in the Old Market, and investigators are pursuing," said Interior Minister Habib al-Adli. He called it "an ugly act of terrorism."

The United States, Israel and European and Middle Eastern countries condemned the attacks, and neighboring Jordan said it was immediately tightening security at its tourist sites.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak flew into Sharm el-Sheik and went directly to inspect the scene at the Ghazala hotel. Heavily armed security forces guarded him throughout.

"This cowardly, criminal act is aimed at undermining Egypt's security and stability and harming its people and its guests," Mubarak said later during a live nationally televised broadcast. "This will only increase our determination in chasing terrorism."

In addition to the 83 known dead, at least 119 others were wounded, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said.

At least eight foreigners were among the dead, Al-Adli said. The dead included British, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis and Qataris, one security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was giving information not yet included in the official statement.

Italy's Foreign Ministry said a 34-year-old Italian man, identified as Sebastiano Conti, was killed and 10 other Italians injured. A Czech tourist was also killed, said Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Vit Kolar.

"Terrorism has no nationality," Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief told The Associated Press. "This is a terrorist act and .... can't be explained or justified."

The British Embassy said initial reports indicated up to eight Britons were wounded, while three Spaniards were also injured, according to Spanish officials.

The Sharm hospital official, Abdel Fattah, said 43 foreigners were wounded, including 13 Italians, nine Britons, five Austrians, five Germans, four Spaniards, a Czech, an Israeli Arab, two Saudis, two Kuwaitis and a Qatari national.

A senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there were no reports of American casualties.

An estimated 9,000 British tourists were believed to be in Sharm, said Association of British Travel Agents' spokeswoman Frances Tuke. Some British airlines have started sending extra planes to the resort to return home tourists who want to cut short their stays.

Egypt's national carrier, EgyptAir, also was sending larger aircraft to fly more people out, said airline official Mohsen Khalil.

The death toll could rise, rescue workers said. The lobby of the 176-room Ghazala Gardens hotel in Sharm's Naamah Bay, the main strip of hotels, collapsed into a pancaked pile of concrete. After hours of clearing through piles of rubble and scrap metal, emergency workers called off rescue efforts, at least temporarily, there around midday.

David Stewart, a tourist from from Liverpool, England, was staying with his wife and two teen-aged daughters at the Ghazala Gardens when the explosion hit. The windows of his room were smashed, and he and his family ran.

"Somebody shouted, 'Keep moving,'" he told AP. "The lights were out. I couldn't tell what was happening."

His family, like many others, fled toward the back of the hotel to take refuge in a grassy lawn near the pool. There, hundreds spent the night, some lying on pool mattresses.

On the other side of Sharm in the Old Market, a second car bomb in a minibus parking lot sent a ball of flaming wreckage shooting over a nearby beach and into the sea and littered the sand with body parts. Overturned chairs, broken waterpipes and pools of blood were scattered around the ravaged coffeeshop nearby, frequented by Egyptians who work in the resorts.

"The country's going to come to a stop. That's it!" sobbed Samir al-Mitwalli, who arrived in Sharm only a month ago to work as a driver. "Who's paying the price? ... Whoever did this wants to destroy the economy."

Sharm el-Sheik has expanded at a furious pace in recent years, making it a major player in Egypt's vital tourism industry, drawing Europeans, Israelis and Arabs from oil-producing Gulf nations.

Mubarak has a residence where he spends the winter, and the town has been the host to multiple summits for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The attacks last fall in Taba ended a long halt in Egyptian militant violence. The last major attack had been in 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at the Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor in southern Egypt.

There were signs that the bombings were by suicide attackers. Witnesses at the coffeeshop reported the attack vehicle was moving when it blew up, and the governor of South Sinai, Mustafa Afifi, said the car in the Ghazala attack broke through security into the front driveway before exploding.

The blast at Old Market tore through a coffeeshop on the side of a minibus lot, killing at least 17 Eygptians who were sitting there, said a security official in the operations control room in Cairo. More than eight hours later, the overturned shell of a minibus was still smoldering, near a large crater in the asphalt.

"This is a security farce," said Omar Ezzideen, owner of a children's clothing store in a nearby mall whose windows were shattered. "How can something like this happen here? How could (explosives) enter here? The national economy is based on this."

[LionHeart-112]

too late...u post after i accused your people of hypocrisy...

[+chilli]

hmmmm...hey lion whats the reason egypt was bombed?

[LionHeart-112]

Egypt is ran by a ruthless motherfu.cker who oppresses, jails, tortures and kills any1 who gets in his way, specially muslims. The west is his biggest support .Husni mubarak received over 2 billion dollars in USAID. Just like most muslim countries, egypt is governed by a non-muslim leaders who are looking after the interests of the west.

[+chilli]

True...but you know what gets me..why these ‘terrorists’ never aim for the government...if they fighting for justice why aim for the innocents why not the governement...they don't seem any better then the oppresses to me

[LionHeart-112]

chilli--this kinda shit happened in Luxor, Egpyt few years ago where they killed 57 western tourists.. This is why they are doing it. They are killing the western tourists in an effor to strain relations between their leaders and their supporters in the west.

[+chilli]

lion i know away of keeping the western idology away from their society and to make the westerns stay away...bla bla

[LionHeart-112]

chili,..no not really. It aint even about western ideology and life styles. Why isn't Osama trying to attack sweden, iceland & canada? They are all kaafir countries...or Netherlands & belgium where homosexual marriages are legal...No1 could care less about their lifestyles. It's their involvement in muslim affairs and supporting tyrants leaders and the jews that is making lots of western countries a target for these attacks. ...Think about this..in 1996 or 95, Algeria held elections in which a muslim government was chosen. The CIA stepped in and installed Abdilaziz Boutefelika, a tyrant who oppresses muslims....Hamid Karzai, the so-called president of afghanistan stuided and lived in Virginia. They want puppets who will obey them in power. They can't stand to see Muslims running their own governments.

[+chilli]

so their solution is to kill the most 'barbaric' way possible just to express their frustration and say they are fighting for their justice...well the Arab world has suffered alot n they blaming the west...

[LionHeart-112]

like i said before, their methods aren't exactly the most humane but their frustration is understandeable. It's the same frustration we muslims feel. Every1 is different in how they deal with it.

are you forgetting the 100,000's of iraqis and muslims who died over the years at the hand of muslims? Are u forgetting the humiliation and torture muslims face in Guantanamo bay & abu ghuraib...is that less barbaric than the suicide bombings????? Put on your thinking muslim hat and stop listening to CNN.

[+chilli]

forget the news n the media not my thing...
:
:

okay i understand you and am aware of all that waalalo am not ignorant....but am against what the west is doing and what these ‘terrorists’ doing simply as...they both make me sick...n i feel for my brothers n sisters but it don't mean am going to kill an American just cuz their ppl killed by brother n sisters is it...i don't like eye for n eye commandment...there has to be better way....n am wide awake not asleep at all..