Holiday resort blast kills at least 22

Three terrorist bombs tonight hit the Egyptian resort of Dahab at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 22 people and wounding more than 150.

It is the third terror strike on a Sinai resort in less than two years.

The attackers struck a day after al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden issued a taped warning that ordinary Western citizens had become legitimate targets of his terrorist organisation because of their support of governments he said were conducting a “crusader war against Islam.”

President Hosni Mubarak, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism, said the blasts were a “sinful terrorist action.”

Police said the explosions hit the central part of the city at 7.15pm when the streets would have been jammed with holidaymakers strolling the streets, shopping or looking for a restaurant or bar for evening festivities.

Hotels and guesthouses would have been full not only of foreigners but also Egyptians who were celebrating the long Coptic Christian Easter weekend that coincided this year with Shem al-Nessim, the ancient holiday marking the first day of spring.

The Sinai Peninsula is popular with Israeli tourists and Israel’s rescue service said at least three citizens were among the wounded.

Security officials said at least 22 bodies had been recovered. Dr Muhammed Hussein at the Dahab International Hospital said 12 bodies and 23 people with serious injuries had been brought to his emergency room alone.

Terrorist attacks have killed nearly 100 people at several tourist resorts in the Sinai Peninsula in the past two years.

Bombings in the resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, near the Israeli border, killed 34 people in October 2004. Suicide attackers in July in the resort of Sharm el Sheikh killed at least 64 people, mainly tourists.

The Egyptian government has said the militants who carried out the bombings were locals without international connections, but other security agencies have said they suspect al Qaida.

In Washington, a US counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said that it is unclear who was behind the attacks.

Officials there haven’t ruled out the possibility that al Qaida may be involved, but have no evidence showing that’s the case, the said. Nor do they have any evidence that bin Laden’s tape was linked to the attack.

Bruce Hoffman, a RAND terrorism expert, agreed in a telephone interview from Washington.

“It could be coincidence. It’s an extraordinarily short turnaround – it’s impossible to say at this point.”

Hoffman said Egypt was one of the most proficient Middle Eastern countries in dealing with terrorist groups, so this attack showed “how adept and innovative these groups are.

“It may be that the Sinai Peninsula is (Egypt’s) Achilles Heel. They’ve gone up and down the coast and hit the main tourist resorts,” Hoffman said.

For years, Dahab was popular, low-key haven for young Western backpackers - including Israelis – drawn by prime scuba diving sites and cheap hotels, which mainly consisted of huts set up along the beach. In recent years, a number of more upmarket hotels have been built, including a five-star Hilton resort.

In Israel, the country’s rescue service said it had raised the alert level.

Israeli Channel 10 TV reported that Israel had temporarily closed the border crossing at Taba, preventing vehicles from entering Sinai. It said a stream of Israeli vehicles were leaving Sinai. About three hours later the crossing was reopened.

Israel’s ambassador in Cairo, Shalom Cohen, said the best thing Israeli tourists in Sinai could do now would be to “go home.”

In a telephone interview with the Israeli TV station, Cohen said there have been repeated warnings from the Israeli government against visiting the Sinai, where Israelis have been targeted in attacks in the past.

“Unfortunately, the warnings came true,” he said.

The Israeli rescue service, Magen David Adom, offered help through the International Red Cross and the Egyptian Red Crescent but has not received a reply, the service said in a statement.

It said about 20 ambulances were standing by at the Taba crossing between Israel and Egypt if needed.

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-run Palestinian Cabinet, condemned the bombings and called it a “criminal attack which is against all human values. We denounce the attack which harmed the Egyptian national security. We convey our solidarity and sincere feeling to the Egyptian president, the Egyptian government and the Egyptian people and the families of the victims,” he said.

An official at the French embassy in Cairo confirmed there were French tourists in Dahab. He said there were “dozens” but did not know precisely how many.

Other Western embassies said they were trying to get information about their citizens.

Dahab is located on the Gulf of Aqaba on the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula and is about 65 miles south of Taba, Egypt, near the border at the southern tip of Israel. Dahab is 210 miles southeast of Cairo.

Police officials said more than 20 ambulances and police cars were rushing to the el-Masbat section of the city.