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Egypt had warning before attack { July 26 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ats-ap_intl10jul26,0,3176020.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlineshttp://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ats-ap_intl10jul26,0,3176020.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlines
Egypt Had Warning Before Deadly Attack
By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press Writer
July 26, 2005, 2:03 PM EDT
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- Investigators have identified a suspected suicide bomber in the weekend attacks that killed scores in this Red Sea resort, saying he was an Egyptian with Islamic militant ties, officials said Tuesday as dozens more people were questioned in the probe. Security officials also said Egyptian authorities received information about an imminent terrorist attack in Sharm el-Sheik days ahead of the devastating bombings.
However, authorities believed the attack would target casinos, so security was increased around those sites, two officials said on condition of anonymity because release of the information was not authorized.
The officials, who have knowledge of the investigation, would not say where the tip came from but said security forces were put on alert in the resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula several days before the pre-dawn Saturday attacks.
But instead of casinos, the bombers in two explosives-laden trucks targeted hotels just after 1 a.m. Saturday. One plowed into the Ghazala Gardens reception area, leveling the lobby. A second headed for another hotel but got caught in traffic and detonated before reaching its target.
Police using DNA tests identified one of the bodies found at the Ghazala site as Youssef Badran, an Egyptian Sinai resident who they said has links to Islamic militants, security officials said. Those links led the officials to suspect he was the bomber in the attack, they said.
Police held members of Badran's family for questioning and were trying to determine his associates, the officials said. Across Sinai, security forces took in 70 people for questioning Tuesday, bringing to 140 the number held since Saturday's pre-dawn blasts.
Also Tuesday, an Egyptian diplomat said Pakistanis were not involved in the bombings, despite police circulating photographs of five Pakistani men a day earlier.
Police distributed photos of five Pakistani men at checkpoints in and around Sharm el-Sheik on Monday, and several state-owned newspapers published the same pictures provided by the Interior Ministry.
There has been no direct link between the wanted men and the bombings, even though at least two security officials said the Pakistanis had flown into Sharm from Cairo several days earlier.
"No Pakistani national was involved in the terrorist attacks that rocked Sharm el-Sheik late last Saturday," the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement.
Egypt's ambassador to Pakistan, Hussein Haridy, said he informed the Pakistani government by telephone late Monday of the Egyptian conclusion.
Posters of the missing Pakistanis were put up in Cairo. Officials now say they are seeking the men for illegally entering Egypt.
Two blasts rocked the popular Naama Bay tourist strip, including the suicide truck bomb attack at the hotel. Two miles away, a third truck bomb ravaged an area called the Old Market, which is popular with Egyptians.
The remains of another suspected bomber were discovered at the Old Market, and DNA tests were being conducted, a security official said.
The death toll stood at 88, according to the head of the Sharm el-Sheik hospital that treated the victims, but Egypt's Health Ministry has put it at 64. Hospitals said the ministry count excludes some sets of body parts.
South Sinai's governor said Monday that 17 of the dead were non-Egyptians, including Westerners and citizens from other Arab states. One American, Kristina Miller, 27, of Las Vegas, was killed.
Meanwhile, 20 of Egypt's top movie and music stars visited Sharm on Tuesday, touring the attack scenes and visiting some of the hospitalized Egyptians.
"I am here to tell my people that we shouldn't let terrorism have its way," director Youssef Chahine said while touring the gutted hotel. "The people are very sad but they are not afraid. It's not the first time but it is the most vicious one."
Investigators are pursuing a possible connection to October's bombings in two Sinai resorts farther north, Taba and Ras Shitan, that killed 34 people, including many Israelis. DNA from the suspected bombers' remains were being compared with samples from the parents of five suspects still at large from the Taba blasts.
The Sharm attacks had hallmarks of other al-Qaida-style operations -- near-simultaneous bombings using a mix of techniques, including vehicle-borne and other bombs.
Three groups claimed responsibility for the attacks. One of the groups warned in an Internet statement Monday of a "total war" unless "Jews and Christians leave our country within 60 days." The statement was signed by the Holy Warriors of Egypt.
A conflicting claim was issued Saturday by an al-Qaida-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which also claimed responsibility for the October bombings. None of the statements' authenticity could be confirmed.
A third claim was posted Tuesday on the Internet in the name of a previously unknown militant group purporting links to al-Qaida. The statement said the group, called Egyptian Tawhid and Jihad, attacked the "Crusaders" in Sharm on orders from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian-born deputy Ayman al-Zawahri "in support of our brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The claim, which was posted on a militant Islamic Web site where statements by the al-Qaida terror network have previously appeared, could not be independently authenticated. Tawhid and Jihad is Arabic for monotheism and holy war.
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Associated Press reporters Salah Nasrawi in Cairo and Christopher Torchia in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
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