Egypt links Dahab attacks with Sinai blasts of 2004 and 2005
Suicide bombers attack multinational peacekeepers base in Sinai, striking 35 minutes apart; no deaths.
By News Agencies and Haaretz ServiceThis week's bombings in Sinai are linked to the terror attacks in the peninsula's resorts of Sharm el-Sheik last year and Taba in 2004, Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said Wednesday.
"The information we have indicates that (the perpetrators) are Sinai Bedouin, and the latest operations are linked to the previous attacks," el-Adly told state television, referring to the terror attacks in the Sinai resorts of Sharm el-Sheik last July and Taba in October 2004.
Three bombs exploded nearly simultaneously Monday in the Sinai resort of Dahab, killing 21 people and wounding more than 80, and two suicide bombers attacked international peacekeepers and Egyptian police Wednesday on the northern edge of the Sinai Peninsula.
El-Adly said he believed Wednesday's attack, in which only the suicide bombers were hurt, was carried by the same group responsible for the Dahab bombings on Monday, and that they both strikes were linked to those of 2005 and 2004.
"In my evaluation, the two incidents (Wednesday) are closely linked to the Dahab event, and those who committed (Wednesday's strike) belong to the same Dahab group," the minister said.
Asked why the bombers chose national holidays for their attacks, el-Adly said: "This requires further thought. Do these people have a certain vision or do they think the police will be more relaxed on a holiday - which is not true.
"On vacations, police officers are on alert," he added.
The Taba attack in October 2004 took place a day after the holiday that commemorates the start of the 1973 war with Israel, and the Sharm el-Sheik attack last July took place on the day that marks Egypt's 1952 revolution.
Authorities have rounded up dozens of suspects and are studying the dismembered remains of three men to learn if they were suicide bombers in the Dahab attacks. Three of the detainees were released after questioning Wednesday.
Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, also flew to Yemen on Wednesday for talks on the Dahab bombings, intelligence sources said on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitive nature. They said Egypt was interested in whether al-Qaida activists who recently escaped from a San'a prison might be connected to Sinai terrorism cells.
Bombers strike peacekeeping force near Gaza borderTwo suicide bombers struck near the main base of the multinational peacekeeping force near the Gaza border in Sinai Wednesday, killing themselves but causing no other casualties.
Security officials said the bombers struck about 35 minutes apart near the main Multinational Forces and Observer base about 3 miles of the Rafa border crossing to Gaza in northern Sinai.
A statement from the Multinational Force headquarters in Rome said the two suicide bombers died but there were no other casualties.
The force said the first blast targeted "an MFO Liaison vehicle" near the main peacekeeping camp at el-Gorah. It said a peacekeeping personnel - a Norwegian and a New Zealander - were riding in the car with two Egyptian officials, when the bomb exploded.
"None of these personnel were injured. The vehicle was damaged. The bomb was carried on the person of the suicide bomber and exploded as the MFO vehicle passed," the statement said.
The second suicide bomber targeted a police vehicle "at another location in the same general area. We understand that no police injuries were reported," the statement said.
A separate blast reportedly hit a police checkpoint in the Nile Delta in the north of the country.
The Interior Ministry and the provincial governor of Sharkia province in the east of the Nile Delta denied reports of a third incident in the Sharkia town of Bilbeis.
"Nothing happened at all in...the whole province," Sharqiyah province Governor Yahya Abdulmageed told Egyptian TV.
Security officials said the suicide bombers died in the north Sinai attack, and there were conflicting reports about wounded.
The attackers hit just two days after a triple bombing that killed 24 at Egypt's Sinai resort city of Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba.
Egypt's official news agency confirmed the attack on the peacekeepers was a suicide bombing, and an Interior Ministry statement said the only casualties were the bombers.
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Shatford, a spokesman for New Zealand's Defense Department told New Zealand Press Association that one New Zealand soldier was hurt but safe and back in his camp. He said he had no details on the soldier's wounds.
Norwegian armed forces spokesman Thom Knustad confirmed that one Norwegian officer was in a vehicle hit by the Sinai blast, but that the Norwegian military had reports that none of the four people traveling in the vehicle were wounded.
"We have no reason to think that any Norwegian was injured," Knustad said.
The strike on the multinational force in Sinai was the second in less than a year. In August, a crude roadside bomb blasted a vehicle belonging to peacekeepers, lightly wounding two Canadians.
The Multinational Force and Observers's 1,800 members monitor the 1979 Egypt-Israeli peace deal.
A total of 10 countries make up the force - the United States, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Fiji, France, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and Uruguay.
Norway also provides the force with three officers, although it is not technically a member.
The peacekeeping force's mandate is to ensure that the provisions of the treaty between Israel and Egypt - which led to Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai - are enforced. In practice, it serves mostly as a buffer between the two countries in case any tensions were to break out again.
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A victim's relative lighting a candle by two memorial stones that were placed at the bombings site in the Sinai seaside city of Dahab on Wednesday. (AP) |
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"The Egyptians can only wish they had the same income as the poor, oppressed Palestinians" AGain, total nonsense. Ask any Egyptian if they would swap places with a Palestinian under occupation and they would faint and your impudence. What a ridiculous notion you presented there - not a single person on earth would prefer to live with Uzis pointed at them every three minutes. You obviously have never been to Egypt - perhaps you should nip down to the Delta and do a survey. I think you'd return a little bruised
"Palestinians are for the most part nomads who just decided to be from Palestine recently." What total rubbish. Must you spend your time writing fantasy in the form of political diatribe? Not a single responsible Israeli politician or historian subscribes to this ridiculous notion.
No, not Leon this time, but the litany of you who go through excessive lengths to dehumanize not just terrorists, not just palestinians, not just muslims, but ALL arabs is a sad spectacle. Even a homicide bomber is a person, a murderer yes, but a sad loss of an immature young man. Even should our enemies seek to uproot us all, use despicable methods to try to fulfill his ends, or hide in sheep's clothing we should still endevour to understand and empathize, lest we one day find that their nature has corrupted ours. To rehash: Not all Arabs are Muslim not all Muslims are in the Territories Not all Palestinians are Terrorists. Not everyone who disagrees with Israel fit ANY of the above.
Yesterday we had lots of people asserting an Al Queada/Hamas plot "The information we have indicates that (the perpetrators) are Sinai Bedouin, and the latest operations are linked to the previous attacks," - Egyptian Interior Minster Habib el-Adly there are those of us who wish to understand who the enemy is, and there are those of use who don't care who did what, but wish to blame who we wish to blame. Got it?
are you kidding? they are more than happy to take anybody's money my friend. they don't care who the government is, they don't hold by borders, neither are they held by them, such is the Bedu
You're probably right. If that's what motivates them,they're in for a shock.
To be a virgin in the land of Four Wives one must weigh four hundred pounds and have more facial hair than a man. These are what await the walking bombs. Sound good?
Leon, since you identify so much with these 'innocents' , why dont you join them? When you do, I hope you are as successful as those today. Notice how many 'armchair' homicide bombers there are?
Fortunately no innocent lives were lost. Casulty numbers in Israeli papers do not include the terrorists since their lives have no value anyway. Now they get to try to collect their virgins. Imagine their suprise when they show up if they have Palestinian papers. The gatekeeper will direct them to special refugee camps outside the gates of heaven where Palestinians are kept to show they can't get in because of Israeli occupation in the Heavens.
u miss the point...arabs have nothing else to offer their people, they ahve failed societies, no industry, no r&d, zero zilch.... nothing to do but sit on your arse, wait for a govt paycheck....in such a situation you blame outsiders and talk BS and more BS and more hatred and it just gets worse BUILD THE WALL
Rosgarten is a sad case probably one of the most agenda driven warps on the forum
when was last time you did some exercise ? when you look at your body in the mirror do you laugh or cry ?
Leon Rosgarten, you do satire very well. At least I hope it is satire. Of course, the "progressive" revolution in the Soviet Union ultimately failed. Your government of the British left is still in Iraq and did not roll back much of Thatcherism. Ergo you cannot be serious and must be a satirist.
i am sitting here in israel, getting stoned and oh so enjoying this stimulating conversation. i am an occupier, a part of the ultimate zionist plot (yes it's true) and a self-hating jew with an arab mother trying to take over the middle east and ease my penis envy. okay, so i'm retreating a little bit and my government is getting a little less war savvy, but i'm not so worried. i personally can take over the world. i don't need you olmert. i don't need you haniyeh. i don't need you ahmadinejad. ok, yes, i do need you ahmadinejad. but i digress. i am posting on this forum not to say anything about any news, or anything like that, but to tell you that i am an angry, angry about this situation. the one that is. sometimes i post intellectual critiques on the internet. other times i like to throw things at walls to express this, things like small stuffed animlas with soft fur, and other times i like to rip small threads from well-threaded sweaters (i would never pull out the fur, though)
If everyone just had sex with each other all of israel and the westbank would be the same. jews and arabs would be one. sex sex sex
AgreeI
do these suicide assholes get when they just kill themselves,without taking any innocent civilians with them? I think they should only qualify for "none" or maybe just the one 72 year old.
Arab...review what Arab peace initiative? Quassams and suicide bombers?
Now everyone is too embarrassed to claim it's a Zionist plot.
" the millions of Palestinians subjected to treatment worse by far than Egyptian rule." The Egyptians can only wish they had the same income as the poor, oppressed Palestinians.
farting is fun
Two more innocent victims of the heroic fight for freedom and justice. The oppressive puppet regime in Egypt made a proper training of the fighters nearly impossible, which caused this resistence operation to have so little effect. But when one revolutionary dies, there is always another to take his place. Final victory belongs to the forces of progress!
You are telling that Middle East at war, but Israel peace suggestion are "not just", and not acceptable to arab people. So in your opinion Israel should step back and embrace "just" for arab people peace. But in diplomacy such behavior called unconditional surrender. To have Israel surrender you have to defeat it in the war first, but such event doesn't seem likely. So why apab people won't embrace Isreal peace suggestions ? Or they don't mind the war at all ?
From 1948 through 1967 Egypt officially occupied Gaza and kept the Arab population, not known then as "Palestinians", under full dusk to dawn curfew every single day of those 19 years. There was narry a peep from your country and your forbears during that awful occupation. Now you speak of an occupation under which the Bedouin supposedly live and then even try to make that pale by comparison to the occupation of the Palestinians. The Bedouin had always roamed where they wished and it wasn't until your English ancestors and their French cousins decided to slice up the Middle East that any real nation/states were even formed.TransJordan was Churchill's 1922 creation and the grease pencil borders he drew ran right through the Bedouin. British Alliances with the Houses of Saud and the Hashemites mattered more than nomads' wishes. You behaved similarly in Egypt with little care for anything but your own interests.Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Israel and Lebanon and part of Jordan and Part of Syria and arguably part of Egypt now too. It is a region, so named by Rome as an insult, not a country and it really does not have a specific people either. Especially not a Nomadic Arab One. Some people’s are native to some areas. Egyptians have undergone big demographic changes recently, so have many parts of Syria and Lebanon. Jordan is a little older and Israel has restored it’s destroyed demographic. Palestinians are for the most part nomads who just decided to be from Palestine recently. They hate Egypt for making peace and want Sinai to be their ancient homeland since time immemorial too. They would probably let Egypt keep it, if Egypt was at war with Israel though. Egypt should deal with them as Arab states deal with petty criminals. Kill them. If only they dealt with terrorists like that. Oh well, Israel will help them deal with this. Kindly, too kindly.
Fact is that UN "observers" on the Lebanon border were actively involved in kidnapping Israeli soldiers. They are not observers but complicit to Arab terror.
What are you saying? that Palestinians--see I know how to spell even if you don't---should take over all of the middle east countries? I'm sure most of those countries will be happy to hear that you are not just interested in infesting and invading only Israel. lol
First off--Israel is not another Arab country. It is a Jewish nation. Second Israel is ready this minute to make peace . All you Arabs have to do is recognize that Israel has the right to exist and stop shooting at it and killing its inhabitants. You will see how quickly Israel will make peace.
To give credit to the UN peacekeepers, there haven't been any wars between Egypt and Israel recently. But G-d forbid if a war did occur, what would the peacekeepers do? In 1967, Nasser kindly asked the UN soldiers to leave the Sinai - and they did! So Israel won that war but if they hadn't, the UN would have been guilty of far more than their usual anti-Zionist motions. What's the point in a peacekeeping force in the Sinai? Nothing happens there anymore, there isn't going to be another war in the Sinai. Whereas the UN soldiers on the Israeli-Lebanese border have rockets going over their heads to fall on Israeli towns and they do nothing. Why are they needed either?
who is going to raise the flag of freedom for the heroic millions of Palestinians subjected to worse treatment and occupation under Egyptian, Saudian, Kuwaitian and even Iraqi rule.
So "Bedouin tribes in the Sinai do not wish to live under occupation" - do you mean like the Palestinians? Or are you only going to raise the flag of freedom for the heroic Bedouin bombers and not the millions of Palestinians subjected to treatment worse by far than Egyptian rule.
It should be clear by now that the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai do not wish to live under occupation. Not the Egyptians, nor the UN, nor the tourists. They should be allowed to live in freedom.
The Middle East is in a state of war. There are bombs everywhere now, suicide attacks everywhere and everyday it is getting worse. Please, Israel needs to start talking with other Arab nations. Arab leaders will continue to support the West, and the Arab people demands for a just peace are not met, therefore we have people who out of despair go and join the Jihad. Jihad is a lose-lose solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. I invite everyone to review the Arab peace initiative. Let's make peace, and open the borders enough of this "I am Jewish" "I am Muslim" thing! You have your religions, we have our religions, but what?s the use of religion if it makes us forget that we were all created by God? Please people of Israel, peace is not far away. Let's not alienate ourselves any longer. True justice is built on love and not hatred. Let?s make peace and not war.
for those fools who want international peacekeeping force between Israel and the territories.
I'm sure the Israel-bashers will accuse the Mossad or some such of being behind this, so I wanted to say it first, to "steal their thunder" - and emphasize how crazy they are.