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Egypt rules out pakistani involvement { July 26 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5167372,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5167372,00.html
Egypt Rules Out Pakistani Involvement
Tuesday July 26, 2005 12:01 PM
AP Photo SHA108
By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press Writer
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) - An Egyptian diplomat said Pakistanis weren't involved in the weekend's bombing spree in this Red Sea resort, as police carried out more arrests in connection with the country's deadliest-ever terrorist attack.
Egyptian police circulated photographs of five Pakistani men at checkpoints in and around Sharm el-Sheik on Monday, and several state-owned newspapers published the same pictures that were provided by the Interior Ministry as the probe into Saturday's three pre-dawn bombings widened.
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 before the attacks.
``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.
Separately, Egyptian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said police detained an unspecified number of people overnight, including women, in the Husseinat and Muqataa villages in the northern Sinai Peninsula near the border with the Gaza Strip.
The officials said the people were detained as part of the Sharm investigation, but it was unclear what involvement if any that had to the attacks or anyone who carried them out.
Police have also been carrying out desert sweeps outside of Sharm in search of suspects; at least 70 people have been arrested since the attacks for questioning, and some are believed to have been released.
Two pre-dawn bomb blasts rocked the popular Naama Bay tourist strip, including a suicide truck bomb attack that devastated the reception area of the Ghazala Gardens Hotel. A third truck bomb ravaged an area some two miles away called the Old Market, which is popular with Egyptians.
The death toll from the attacks stood at 88, according to the head of the Sharm el-Sheik hospital that treated the victims, but Egypt's Health Ministry has put the death toll at 64. Hospitals said the ministry count excludes some sets of body parts.
A body believed to be that of a foreign bomber was found in the pickup truck at the Ghazala, while the remains of another suspected bomber were discovered at the Old Market. DNA tests are being run on the bodies, said a security official speaking on condition of anonymity because the release of details in the probe had not been authorized.
Meanwhile, 20 of Egypt's top movie and music stars visited Sharm on Monday, touring the attack scenes and visiting some of the Egyptians injured who were still in hospital.
``I am here to tell my people that we shouldn't let terrorism have its way,'' said director Youssef Chahine, 79, during a tour of 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 further north, Taba and Ras Shitan, that killed 34 people, including many Israelis. DNA from the suspected bombers' remains were being compared to 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.
Two 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 last October's bombings. None of the statements' authenticity could be confirmed.
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Associated Press writer Chris Torchia in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
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