Egypt denies building fence around bombed Sinai Peninsula resort

CAIRO - The Egyptian authorities on Wednesday denied building a fence around the Red Sea resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh, where bombs killed 67 people in July.

Fifteen Israelis were among the 32 killed in multiple terror attacks further north on the Sinai Peninsula in October 2004.

Residents and one security official, who declined to be named, said on Tuesday the authorities were building a security fence to extend 20 kilometers around parts of the tourist town, which is one Egypt's busiest resorts.

But Mustafa Afifi, governor of south Sinai, said authorities were building concrete walls no more than 80 centimeters high near junctions to stop camels straying on to the road and causing accidents, the official MENA news agency said.

The authorities have blamed a series of bombings in the Sinai Peninsula over the past year on local people of Bedouin origin with some Islamist and Palestinian connections.