| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Cairo explosion 'primitive' |
| 2009-02-24 |
| An explosion in a popular tourist area of Cairo on Sunday evening is likely linked to recent regional tensions, according to Egyptian experts. "Foreign sides may be involved in this blast with the aim of destabilising Egypt and hampering its efforts to establish a permanent truce in the Gaza Strip," said Mokhtar Nouh, an Islamist lawyer. The explosion of a home-made bomb in the main plaza of the bustling Khan Al Khalili bazaar killed a French girl and injured at least 20 people. Police yesterday took into custody three suspects for questioning, said security sources. They declined to say if those arrested were Egyptians or foreigners. Security agencies are, meanwhile, hunting for three Palestinians linked to the Islamic movement Hamas, the semi-official Cairo newspaper Al Mas'aiya reported yesterday. Quoting an unnamed senior security official, the paper added that the three people had sneaked into Egypt through tunnels between Gaza and the Egyptian Rafah border crossing. Police would not comment on the report. Egypt tightened security measures at main entrances to Cairo and its suburbs in the aftermath of the explosion in a bid to detain suspected perpetrators. "I think foreign quarters may have manipulated locals, who adopt ideologies of violence and subversion," Nouh told Gulf News. In April 2005, an explosion killed two French visitors and one American in the Khan Al Khalil bazaar area - a popular tourist attraction. "In my view, Sunday evening's blast and other terror attacks in Egypt over the past five years herald a new wave of terrorism which is politically motivated," said Fouad Allam, an ex-security official. He explained that the assaults, which occurred in Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s, were perpetrated by militant Muslim groups, who wanted to set up a purely Islamic state. "The recent attacks, however, reflect a political agenda. They were mostly unleashed by disillusioned young people." In Allam's opinion, the latest explosion might be in reaction to Israel's deadly onslaught on Gaza, which left more than 1,300 people dead. Egypt is hosting inter-Palestinian reconciliation talks tomorrow. Between 2004 and 2006, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula was the scene of a series of terror attacks, especially in the resort town of Sharm Al Shaikh. "This blast bears no imprint of major violence groups in Egypt," said Omar Al Shubki, an expert on Islamist groups. "Nor is it linked to Al Qaida," he told this newspaper. "It is a continuation of the so-called haphazard and individual violence blamed on frustration triggered by social and economic hardships. "This is evidenced by the fact that the Sunday explosion was primitive." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 hunting for three Palestinians linked to the Islamic movement Hamas Interesting. The Palestinian Lions of Islam will no longer be generally beloved by the end of this. Then what will they do? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-24 13:09 |
| #1 No so primitive that it didn't kill and maim a bunch of French school girls. Another great victory for islam. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-02-24 10:27 |