Egyptians Face Grim Task of Bomb Cleanup
Officials Reduce Death Toll to 18; At Least 10 Arrested in Triple Attack
DAHAB, Egypt, April 25 -- On Tuesday, professional divers pulled a pair of indistinct human limbs and a severed head from the offshore rainbow-colored reefs where tourists customarily linger to gaze down at shimmering fish in the Red Sea.
An Egyptian security official searches for evidence at the site of one of the three bombings in the Egyptian resort of Dahab, where shards of glass and body parts were scattered across the ground a day after the attacks. (By Ariel Schalit -- Associated Press)
The divers' discovery was part of the sad cleanup here a day after three bombs killed at least 18 people, 12 of them Egyptian. The blasts wounded 85 people on a busy holiday that is traditionally marked in Egypt by picnics and strolls outside. In a place where tourism is a major source of livelihood, police were quick to announce they had arrested at least 10 suspects and detained 70 other people for questioning. Three of the suspects were Egyptians apprehended while leaving town shortly after the blasts, police said.
Confusion surrounded both the death toll and official accounts of what happened. Overnight, government reports of the number of fatalities dropped from 23 to 18. Some officials said time bombs were placed on a seaside promenade; others said suicide bombers set them off. "It's either-or," said Magdy Rady, a government spokesman. "In the first 24 hours, we have been concentrating on rescue. Now the investigation will really begin."
Dahab takes its place beside the Red Sea resorts of Taba to the north and tony Sharm el-Sheikh to the south as hosts to a familiar scene. In all three resort towns, multiple blasts have targeted tourist spots, charring stores and restaurants and sending vacationers to the airport for the next plane out. The first bombings hit Taba and a nearby resort in October 2004; the second blasts hit Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2005. The total Red Sea resort death toll from such attacks now stands at about 125 in 18 months. Egyptian police say Islamic radicals who are based in the Sinai and who have no ties to outside terrorism networks carried out the attacks in Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Rady said the bombs in Dahab were far weaker than in previous Sinai bombings, which damaged big hotels.
Tourism here and in cities and archaeological sites along the Nile River provides Egypt with more than $6 billion in annual revenue. By some estimates, the tourism industry employs 10 percent of the country's workforce and constitutes 7 percent of its gross national product.
Red Sea tourism development is also a pet project of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been a steady ally of the United States, though he voiced deep misgivings about the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and declined to provide Egyptian forces for the occupation. Nonetheless, he stands out among Middle East leaders who are scorned as sycophants of the West by violent Islamic groups. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to recognize Israel.
Dahab, which in Arabic means gold, is a shabby collection of holistic massage parlors, diving centers and shops selling pseudo-Pharaonic kitsch. Egyptians consider the town a hashish haven. On Tuesday, salespeople were trying to sell clothing pockmarked with holes from the blasts. Meanwhile, shopkeepers and restaurant workers swept up shattered glass and mopped away caked pools of blood that had begun to smell.
Two of the three explosions were set at each end of a pedestrian bridge that links two parts of the promenade. One of them damaged the Al Capone Restaurant. Plates of French fries and bottles of hot sauce lay scattered on outdoor tables. The explosion at the other end blew away parts of the Lantern Chinese Restaurant.
The third blast occurred in the middle of the promenade near three stores that sell jewelry and souvenirs. All of the stores are owned by Coptic Christians, although three people killed at the scene were Muslim workers. The attack occurred during the long Coptic Easter weekend as well as an ancient Egyptian holiday marking the start of spring.
Tensions between Muslims and Christians in Egypt have been on the rise. Muslims have attacked churches in several Egyptian towns; 10 days ago in the Mediterranean coast city of Alexandria, an Egyptian Muslim went on a rampage at three churches and assaulted Coptic worshipers with a knife. He killed one elderly Christian. Three days of rioting and Muslim-Christian street battles ensued.
On Tuesday, Amro Hamdi, who worked in a spice shop next door to one of the jewelry stores in Dahab, was preparing to be evacuated by helicopter to Cairo for treatment unavailable in Sinai. In the blast, he suffered burns on his face, arms and feet, which were swollen and blistered. "It was like fire and nails were piercing me. I fell down, then got up and ran. That's all I remember, and I awoke here," he said. "No matter who did this and why, they should be punished."
"My opinion, this is against Egypt and its economy," said Magdi Fathi Abu Salaam, who was lounging under the bridge when the bombs detonated above. He was now awaiting surgery to remove shrapnel from his leg. "I don't know if it is glass or metal," he said. "All I can say is that people ran, cried, fell down. There were no ambulances. People used private cars to help the wounded."
Some bystanders suspected foreign plots behind the attack. "No Muslim could do this," said Ashraf Ibrahim, an employee of a dive store. "I noticed there weren't Israelis around at the time of the explosion, though they usually stroll here."
The death and destruction at Dahab came at a delicate political moment in Egypt. Mubarak, under pressure at home and from Washington to democratize Egypt, is contemplating an end to 25-year-old "emergency laws" that officials have justified in a battle against terrorism but that have been used to stifle free speech and association. The laws would be replaced by targeted measures to fight terrorism, government officials have indicated. The Dahab bombings could delay or abort changes to the law, human rights observers say.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's leading opposition force, is eager for a repeal of the emergency laws. The group wants to be able to recruit members and practice politics without fear of arrest. In a statement, the Brotherhood condemned the Dahab attack and "whoever might be behind it."
For Egyptians and foreign diplomats searching for news of victims, the traditional stone wall of Egyptian bureaucracy proved frustrating. At Sharm el-Sheikh's hospital, a physician who identified himself as Dr. Mohammed listened silently as an Egyptian man pleaded with him to look for the name of a relative on a list that Mohammed clutched in his hand. "I think he is dead," the visitor said.
"There will be a press conference later. Only then will the director release names. However, we have two bodies in the morgue. You are welcome to go down and have a look."
An Italian diplomat had no better luck in obtaining the names of three Italians reported wounded: He too had to wait for the director. The dead foreigners included a 10-year-old German who died in a taxi on the way to the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital. A Swiss, a Russian and a Lebanese woman were also among the dead; two other women believed to be foreigners have not yet been identified, officials said later.
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Page A18
The Washington Post Company Washington USA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
DAHAB, Egypt, April 25 -- On Tuesday, professional divers pulled a pair of indistinct human limbs and a severed head from the offshore rainbow-colored reefs where tourists customarily linger to gaze down at shimmering fish in the Red Sea.
An Egyptian security official searches for evidence at the site of one of the three bombings in the Egyptian resort of Dahab, where shards of glass and body parts were scattered across the ground a day after the attacks. (By Ariel Schalit -- Associated Press)
The divers' discovery was part of the sad cleanup here a day after three bombs killed at least 18 people, 12 of them Egyptian. The blasts wounded 85 people on a busy holiday that is traditionally marked in Egypt by picnics and strolls outside. In a place where tourism is a major source of livelihood, police were quick to announce they had arrested at least 10 suspects and detained 70 other people for questioning. Three of the suspects were Egyptians apprehended while leaving town shortly after the blasts, police said.
Confusion surrounded both the death toll and official accounts of what happened. Overnight, government reports of the number of fatalities dropped from 23 to 18. Some officials said time bombs were placed on a seaside promenade; others said suicide bombers set them off. "It's either-or," said Magdy Rady, a government spokesman. "In the first 24 hours, we have been concentrating on rescue. Now the investigation will really begin."
Dahab takes its place beside the Red Sea resorts of Taba to the north and tony Sharm el-Sheikh to the south as hosts to a familiar scene. In all three resort towns, multiple blasts have targeted tourist spots, charring stores and restaurants and sending vacationers to the airport for the next plane out. The first bombings hit Taba and a nearby resort in October 2004; the second blasts hit Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2005. The total Red Sea resort death toll from such attacks now stands at about 125 in 18 months. Egyptian police say Islamic radicals who are based in the Sinai and who have no ties to outside terrorism networks carried out the attacks in Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Rady said the bombs in Dahab were far weaker than in previous Sinai bombings, which damaged big hotels.
Tourism here and in cities and archaeological sites along the Nile River provides Egypt with more than $6 billion in annual revenue. By some estimates, the tourism industry employs 10 percent of the country's workforce and constitutes 7 percent of its gross national product.
Red Sea tourism development is also a pet project of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been a steady ally of the United States, though he voiced deep misgivings about the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and declined to provide Egyptian forces for the occupation. Nonetheless, he stands out among Middle East leaders who are scorned as sycophants of the West by violent Islamic groups. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to recognize Israel.
Dahab, which in Arabic means gold, is a shabby collection of holistic massage parlors, diving centers and shops selling pseudo-Pharaonic kitsch. Egyptians consider the town a hashish haven. On Tuesday, salespeople were trying to sell clothing pockmarked with holes from the blasts. Meanwhile, shopkeepers and restaurant workers swept up shattered glass and mopped away caked pools of blood that had begun to smell.
Two of the three explosions were set at each end of a pedestrian bridge that links two parts of the promenade. One of them damaged the Al Capone Restaurant. Plates of French fries and bottles of hot sauce lay scattered on outdoor tables. The explosion at the other end blew away parts of the Lantern Chinese Restaurant.
The third blast occurred in the middle of the promenade near three stores that sell jewelry and souvenirs. All of the stores are owned by Coptic Christians, although three people killed at the scene were Muslim workers. The attack occurred during the long Coptic Easter weekend as well as an ancient Egyptian holiday marking the start of spring.
Tensions between Muslims and Christians in Egypt have been on the rise. Muslims have attacked churches in several Egyptian towns; 10 days ago in the Mediterranean coast city of Alexandria, an Egyptian Muslim went on a rampage at three churches and assaulted Coptic worshipers with a knife. He killed one elderly Christian. Three days of rioting and Muslim-Christian street battles ensued.
On Tuesday, Amro Hamdi, who worked in a spice shop next door to one of the jewelry stores in Dahab, was preparing to be evacuated by helicopter to Cairo for treatment unavailable in Sinai. In the blast, he suffered burns on his face, arms and feet, which were swollen and blistered. "It was like fire and nails were piercing me. I fell down, then got up and ran. That's all I remember, and I awoke here," he said. "No matter who did this and why, they should be punished."
"My opinion, this is against Egypt and its economy," said Magdi Fathi Abu Salaam, who was lounging under the bridge when the bombs detonated above. He was now awaiting surgery to remove shrapnel from his leg. "I don't know if it is glass or metal," he said. "All I can say is that people ran, cried, fell down. There were no ambulances. People used private cars to help the wounded."
Some bystanders suspected foreign plots behind the attack. "No Muslim could do this," said Ashraf Ibrahim, an employee of a dive store. "I noticed there weren't Israelis around at the time of the explosion, though they usually stroll here."
The death and destruction at Dahab came at a delicate political moment in Egypt. Mubarak, under pressure at home and from Washington to democratize Egypt, is contemplating an end to 25-year-old "emergency laws" that officials have justified in a battle against terrorism but that have been used to stifle free speech and association. The laws would be replaced by targeted measures to fight terrorism, government officials have indicated. The Dahab bombings could delay or abort changes to the law, human rights observers say.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's leading opposition force, is eager for a repeal of the emergency laws. The group wants to be able to recruit members and practice politics without fear of arrest. In a statement, the Brotherhood condemned the Dahab attack and "whoever might be behind it."
For Egyptians and foreign diplomats searching for news of victims, the traditional stone wall of Egyptian bureaucracy proved frustrating. At Sharm el-Sheikh's hospital, a physician who identified himself as Dr. Mohammed listened silently as an Egyptian man pleaded with him to look for the name of a relative on a list that Mohammed clutched in his hand. "I think he is dead," the visitor said.
"There will be a press conference later. Only then will the director release names. However, we have two bodies in the morgue. You are welcome to go down and have a look."
An Italian diplomat had no better luck in obtaining the names of three Italians reported wounded: He too had to wait for the director. The dead foreigners included a 10-year-old German who died in a taxi on the way to the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital. A Swiss, a Russian and a Lebanese woman were also among the dead; two other women believed to be foreigners have not yet been identified, officials said later.
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Page A18
The Washington Post Company Washington USA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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