Criminal who became a 'fanatic' blamed for Sinai blast

A Palestinian angered by Israeli-Palestinian violence plotted and then died in the nearly simultaneous car bombings of a Sinai hotel and campsite that killed at least 34 people this month, the Egyptian government said today.

The Interior Minister announced the the arrests of five Egyptians suspected of involvement in the attacks. Two other suspects remained at large, it said.

The Taba Hilton was heavily damaged in the worst of the blasts. Two other car bombs exploded at bungalow campgrounds in nearby Ras Shitan, also in the Sinai Peninsula. The resorts were packed with Israeli tourists who had travelled to the Sinai during a Jewish holiday.

The government identified the mastermind of the attacks as Ayad Said Salah, a Palestinian who had lived in the Sinai and who died in the October 7 explosion at the hotel along with a fellow plotter, Egyptian Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil.

The pair, identified through DNA testing, were trying to leave the scene but their timed explosives detonated prematurely, the ministry said.

Two other suspects were said to be at large: Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, brother of Suleiman Flayfil, and Hammad Gaman Gomah.

Police have arrested five suspects who had lesser roles, including obtaining explosives and the cars used in the attacks, the ministry said.

The Interior Ministry said mastermind Salah acted “in reaction to the deteriorating situation in the occupied territories to carry out an act targeting Israelis.” The ministry accused Salah of turning “to religious fanaticism” after a criminal past that included a rape conviction.

The Interior Ministry did not mention a broader conspiracy in the bombing. Fingers had been pointed at the al-Qaida terror network known for the kind of secretive, sophisticated planning believed necessary to pull off an attack like the Sinai bombings.

A senior Egyptian security officer said Salah had links with a Palestinian Islamic group in Gaza, but would not say which group.

Taba, a tiny parcel of land on the Red Sea shore next to the Israeli town of Eilat, was not initially returned to Egypt under the peace treaty. Israel claimed that the international border placed Taba inside Israel, but international arbitrators ruled against the claim, and Israel returned Taba to Egypt in 1989.

Thousands of Israelis regularly stream into the Sinai to visit Taba and gamble in the Hilton’s casino.