http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/07/ ... index.html

Egyptian resort town blasts kill dozens
More than 100 injured as investigation intensifies

(CNN) -- Deadly explosions that rocked the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday may be linked to a series of bomb blasts last October in the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt's interior minister said.

"We are trying to find out who committed these crimes," Habib al-Adli told reporters while viewing the extensive damage at the Ghazala Garden Hotel in Naama Bay, a popular tourism area of the city on the Sinai Peninsula. "It is likely that they have some relationship to the Taba operation."

At least 30 people were killed and 107 wounded when at least three explosions early Saturday rocked Sharm el-Sheikh.

In Egypt's northeastern Sinai in October, attackers struck the Taba Hilton and nearby camping areas around Ras al Sultan and Tarabeen in a series of bomb blasts, killing 34 people. It was Egypt's last major bombing. (Full story)

Al-Adli said it was not yet known who was behind the Saturday attacks, "but whoever it is, or whatever groups they belong to, this is ugly terrorism, and there's no humanity or values or feel of belonging in these acts."

Asked whether he thought the blasts might be related to Islam, he replied, "What Islam? This terrorism has nothing to do with any religion, because all religions do not allow aggression and do not allow killing civilians in innocence. Those don't belong to Muslims. They are a gang of criminals."

At least one of Saturday's explosions, at the city's Old Market, was caused by a car bomb, the ministry said. Al-Adli said a second explosion, in a Naama Bay parking lot and shuttle stop, resulted from an explosive device that had been left there.

The blast at the Ghazala Garden Hotel occurred after a car sped past checkpoints and barricades and went into a hotel reception area, al-Adli said. The explosion killed the policemen who were trying to stop the car, he said.

Egypt's tourism minister, Ahmed el-Maghrabi, said the facade of the hotel was destroyed, and a taxi driver said the blast severely damaged at least one other hotel, all packed with tourists. Dozens of visitors and other taxi drivers were waiting at a shuttle bus stop when the bomb went off, he said.

The explosions at the tip of the Sinai on the Red Sea happened about 1:15 a.m. (2215 p.m. Friday GMT.)

Twenty-eight of those injured were non-Egyptians, said Hala el-Khatib, spokeswoman for the Egyptian Tourism Ministry. They included 13 Italians; five British; three Spanish; three Saudis; one Turk; one Ukrainian; a Russian; and an Arab-Israeli, she said.

About five non-Egyptians were among the dead, she said, but their nationalities were not available.

Earlier, the British Foreign Office said the British ambassador to Egypt, Derek Plumbly, and others were on the way to the scene.

An employee at the Ghazala Hotel said she heard a huge explosion and felt the building tremble. Guests were being transferred to other hotels, and police cordoned off the area, she said.

Video from Nile TV showed men at one site carrying body bags to emergency vehicles, and other bodies lying amid debris on bloody ground, covered by sheets or blankets.

"We are trying to comfort those touched by those explosions," el-Maghrabi said. "These groups, those criminal groups, will never be able to steal the right of people to move and travel. This is very unfortunate."

One husband and wife were rudely awakened by the blasts.

"My wife and I were asleep and, basically, I just woke up because our house is made out of glass doors, and simply the glass started shaking really hard," said Ahmed Mansour, who lives in Sharm el-Sheikh, 7 kilometers (4 miles) from Naama Bay.

"I personally just thought it was an earthquake. So then my wife woke up and I just told her, its probably just an earthquake, so just go back to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, I started to get phone calls from, basically, people asking us if we were all right," Mansour said.

"And then I switched the TV on and basically heard what happened."

Mansour said he and his neighbors were shaken, and they came to his house because they didn't want to be alone. Mansour's wife works at a dive shop, and he said the busiest part of the tourist season is beginning.

"I don't think there's going to be high season here this year," he said.

A physician at the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital, Dr. Adel Taher, said he had treated at least 50 people wounded in the blasts, most with blast injuries and lacerations. He said every available doctor in the area had come to the hospital to assist blast victims, who streamed into the hospital for more than two hours.

Two patients from his hospital were transported by helicopter to Cairo for treatment, he said.

City resident Lucia Gregoiia said she was at a bar with friends near the Ghazala Hotel when they heard an explosion. They went to the door and were showered with dust and smoke. She ran toward the beach, away from the crowds, seeking safety, she said.

After the October blasts in Taba, the Interior Ministry said the attacks were meant as "a response to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and it was directed at Israelis staying in the hotel and two camps."

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan released a statement early Saturday expressing "sorrow and anger" at the "multiple car bombs in the Sinai Peninsula."

"Once again, in this tragic month, he condemns the use of terror and indiscriminate violence against civilians, which no cause or belief can possibly justify," the statement said.

Egypt had been operating under heightened security in recent days, Interior Minister al-Adli said, because of the bomb attacks in London. Asked if he thought the London blasts were related to the explosions in Sharm el-Sheikh, al-Adli said, "Look, it's all terrorism. It's a crime of terrorism, whether here, or in London, or Turkey, or some time ago in Saudi Arabia, or in other areas."

No other explosive devices had been found as of Saturday, al-Adli said.

CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh and Arwa Damon contributed to this

I'm becoming more and more worried for my sister who is travelling around europe starting next week. This is awful

Death toll is up to around 89 now. Why has no one responded to this yet? It's honestly starting to bother me that this is bigger than the London bombings, and yet I've barely seen any television coverage of it, not to mention the fact that no one here thinks that it's worthy of discussion.

You know the answer to this as well as I do. But the mere suggestion will get you all kinds of reactions from all kinds of people who'd rather not face up to reality.

I think there might be several reasons for that. As far as television coverage, perhaps its because we have more contacts in London compared to Egypt. And as far as discussion on the board goes, it could be because not too many people here are familiar with Egypt whereas we have quite a few members across the pond. It could also be because it is a Saturday morning/afternoon here in the States and people like to sleep. Or perhaps people are tired of talking about bombings/terrorism after the London bombings. I agree that this is a huge story, and I would rather this be on all the news channels as opposed to the Natalie Holloway disappearance.

fuck fucking terrorists.

what are we supposed to respond to exactly? why dont we just fucking copy and paste the same things we say whenever a terrorist attack happens, it sucks and i feel terrible for the people involved.

http://www.theskyiscrape.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20526

I commend you, Stephen. Unfortunately though, your thread kinda proves my point. One response...

Combined, we have about 6. In all honesty, this kind of news doesn't really effect me all that much anymore. Desensitized? Most definitely. I even considered not posting it, fearing people felt the same way.

Perhaps it's the "liberal media bias". After all, the London blasts make Bu$h look bad. The Egyptian blasts don't. Which is the media more likely to cover?

Don't think so. Afterall London (along with New York) is one of the financial Capitals of the Western World. It's more to do with the fact that more £$£$£ is invested in London than Egypt and so would have a wider impact globally should, say, the stockmarket crash due to a lack of confidence in the markets.

It's the same old story, money talks...

yes, the lack of instant response had a lot to do with it being a summer weekend .. I didn't turn on my TV or radio all weekend and so was shocked to hear about this on the news this morning.

my first thought was, "wasn't this where kudos went on vacation recently?" (yes, it was near there). to quote from above, "fuck fucking terrorists."

to quote from the above article,

right on. this isn't true religion. this is a bunch of murderers in action.

With religous motivation. Is anything more responsible for death in our history than religion?

Man created religion

Atheism is responsible for Columbine by that logic