Egypt sweeps Sinai for attackers

A woman cries (C) as she is received by relatives upon her arrival from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, at La Malpensa International airport in Milan Saturday. At least 88 people were killed and some 200 more were injured in the blasts. PHOTO: AFP

Egypt's deadliest attacks, that came at the peak of the tourist season and killed at least nine foreigners, drew a barrage of condemnation from around the world and dealt a blow to a regime increasingly exposed to Islamist terrorism just weeks ahead of a landmark presidential election.

The bombings, claimed by an al-Qaeda group, sent chills through a world still reeling from a series of attacks in London.

Egypt's national security forces started sweeping the Sinai peninsula hours after the explosions -- two of them suicide car bombs -- that struck a seafront hotel, a car park and a busy market area, security sources said.

Dozens were arrested and raids were ongoing yesterday, after Interior Minister Habib al-Adly claimed investigators already had leads and suggested the attacks could be connected to deadly anti-Israeli bombings on October 7 further north on the Sinai coast.

"This cowardly and criminal act which is aimed at destabilising Egypt will reinforce our determination to press the battle against terror through to its eradication," President Hosni Mubarak said Saturday.

The bombings, which turned the jewel of Egypt's tourism industry into a nightmare of blood and destruction, were claimed by a group citing ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

A group calling itself the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Levant and Egypt said it carried out the bombings as a "response against the global evil powers, which are spilling the blood of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya."

The authenticity of its Internet posting could not be verified.

Saturday's attacks followed a new terror scare on London's transport system on Thursday after a series of bombings on July 7 also claimed by an al-Qaeda group that killed 52 people plus four suicide bombers.

A videotape showing Egypt's envoy to Iraq, reportedly kidnapped and killed by an al-Qaeda group on July 7, discussing the Israeli presence in the Sinai was posted on the Internet after the attacks.

Although the recording was not apparently connected with Saturday's blasts, the statement charged that "Jews have expropriated... Sinai and dominated its Muslims through their servants of the tyrants of Egypt."

Accused by Islamists of being enslaved to its Washington ally, Cairo also came under harsh criticism from Israel for its failure to crack down on militants following the October bombings in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Nuweiba.

The trial of three men -- one of them still at large -- suspected of involvement in the Taba attacks resumed Sunday.

Meanwhile, forensic experts continued to identify the victims of the blasts.

The explosions were heard several miles around and the largest attack destroyed the Ghazala Garden hotel, accounting for around half of the victims.

Medics said some of the bodies were burnt or mangled beyond recognition and that the identification process could take some time, while also warning that the death toll could rise further as many wounded were in critical condition.

"I've never seen so many eviscerated people and terrible wounds in my life," said Rabab, 19, a nurse at the international hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh.