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| Africa North |
| Tiny group suspected in Egypt blast |
| 2009-02-25 |
| Egyptian security services believe a tiny Islamist cell carried out a nail-bomb attack near a popular tourist site in Cairo that killed a French teenager, a government newspaper said on Tuesday. The investigation into Sunday's bombing near the famed 14th century Khan Al Khalili bazaar is focusing on an isolated group of three or four Islamists, Al Ahram newspaper reported. Egyptian police said they have arrested three suspects and were questioning about 15 witnesses but as yet no-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the first targeting Westerners in Egypt since 2006. Al Ahram said the home-made bomb weighed up to 1.5 kilograms (more than three pounds), contained nails and metal fragments and an explosive material similar to the kind used in fireworks. A timer was used to detonate the device, which had been placed on a marble bench, the newspaper said, contradicting witness statements that it had been thrown from a rooftop. Another bomb was found nearby but was defused by police. A 17-year-old French girl was killed and 24 other people, mostly French tourists, were injured in the blast, which has cast a shadow over Egypt's vital tourism industry. The French wounded flew home yesterday with their relatives and the body of the dead girl is to be repatriated later in the day after her family arrived on Monday, airport and French consular sources said. "This act highlights social and political unease but appears to be the work of an individual or a group acting in isolation," said Amr Shubaki, a researcher at the Al Ahram Centre of Strategic Studies. However, General Fuad Allam, former head of the state security service, warned the attack could herald "a new wave of terrorism in Egypt," spurred by the global financial crisis and the region's problems. But other political analysts say they suspect the attack was the work of Egyptians with Islamist sentiments and not a militant group with global reach such as Al Qaida. "This is the kind of freelance jihad type of operation where people have been radicalised but not necessarily directly through membership in a group," said Issandr Al Amrani, Egypt and North Africa analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Little people of Egypt, beware. They be a comin' for you. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-02-25 13:30 |
| #4 "... work of an individual or a group acting in isolation," Gee, who knew that the Muslim Brotherhood was isolated. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-02-25 09:48 |
| #3 A new show on TJC (The Jihad Channel): Little People, Big Boom. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-02-25 09:45 |
| #2 Terror of Tinytown? |
| Posted by: Fred 2009-02-25 09:10 |
| #1 Munchkins? Lollipop Guild? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-25 01:48 |