Eight Egyptians have been detained and accused of plotting the car bombings of a hotel and tourist camp in the Sinai that killed at least 34 people earlier this month.
In a statement Monday, quoted by The AP, the Egyptian Interior Ministry added the mastermind of the attacks, identified as Palestinian Ayad Said Salah, died in the Oct. 7 blast at the hotel along with a fellow plotter, Egyptian Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil. The statement said the two had been trying to leave the scene but their timed explosives went off prematurely.
Two other car bombs exploded at bungalow campgrounds in Ras Shitan, also in the Sinai Peninsula. The resorts were packed with Israeli tourists who had traveled there during a Jewish holiday.
One of those arrested, Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, was the brother of the Egyptian killed carrying out the hotel bombing, the ministry stated. Mohamed Flayfil was accused of carrying out the attack on one of the campgrounds.
A second suspect under arrest, Hammad Gaman Gomah, was accused of carrying out the third bombing. The statement said the Flayfil brothers and Gomah were residents of the Sinai and that Salah, the Palestinian, lived in the Sinai town of al-Arish.
The other six, all also from the Sinai, had lower level roles, including buying explosives and the vehicles used in the bombings. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
