Dahab in Sinai holiday resort area bombed 50 (? 30) dead 150 wounded

The question today lingers, by whom ? against whom ? and why ? Of course irresponsible conspiracy theorists say it was Mossad inspired byt they don't do that sort of thing - state inspired terrism - never , never , never, who mentioned the St. David Hotel, Lavon affair , USS Liberty ?

Me, I point my finger at the Chevaliers of the Knights Hospitallers of St John, they have a Castle nearby, where a document in the Vatican (lost in 1643 - or stolen ?) claims Mary Magdalen is buried. Primitive bombs suggest limited acquaintance with explosives - fits perfickly.

Egypt's Sinai resort town of Dahab (arabic for Gold) was rocked by three bomb blasts on Monday night, leaving at least 30 people dead and 160 wounded. (Jerusalem Post)Thomson Holidays, the UK's biggest tour operator, currently has 43 UK holidaymakers in Dahab.

Confusion about the number of dead D Telegraph , BBC, VOA and Aljazeera say 22, Financial Times, Times, and Reuters 30 Guradian 100.(Tuesday 1600 seems to be 23 is agreed figure a 6 yr old German child was among the dead. > 60 people were wounded, 42 Egyptians and 20 foreigners, including 3 Britons, 3 Danes, 2 Italians, 2 Germans, 2 French people, 1 each Lebanes, American, Israeli and Austrialian, the Egyptian interior ministry said.)

One blast hit the el-Khaleeg Hotel alone (17 dead), a second a restaurant and the third explosion was in the market area The blasts were timed at approx about 7:15 p.m. local time (1715 GMT 1815 BST). Egyptian authorities said the blasts were probaly plantes and NOT caused by suicide bombers.Mobile phones are not working and everything is closed by the police.

This is high tourist season - part of a five-day Egyptian holiday "Shamm el-Nessim" (Coptic Easter) when the middle classes head out of town - and hotels all along the Egyptian coasts could be expected to be at near capacity. It is a resort popular with independent travellers and not a "plush" resort like Sharm el Sheikh.There are few dive sites in Sinai more spectacular - or more dangerous - than Blue Hole. This circular, 203-foot drop off lies a few miles north of Dahab, and it looks exactly like its name.

To the north is a Crusader fort at the Island of Coral or Geziret Faraum, is the location of a Crusader fortress originally built by Baldwin I, the King of Jerusalem and was named originally named Ile De Graye Castle. From the top of the fortress, one can see four countries, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Lawrence of Arabia made a somewhat daring and unauthorized visit to the Island during his Wilderness of Zin survey in June 1914.

There were previously bombings in the Egyptian resorts of (again 3 bombs set off) Taba and
Ras Shitan in October 2004 (34 killed, including 12 Israelis,) and (again 3 bombs set off) in Sharm el-Sheikh (88 people were killed) in July 2005.

On 7th April last year, two French tourists and an American were also killed (and the bomber) and about 20 people wounded in a bomb attack in the al-Azhar area of the Egyptian capital.

Seven people (including two Israelis, an Italian and a Swede )were wounded in an attack later the same month(30th April 2005) in Cairo's Abdel Moneim Riad Square, and two women assailants were killed in a failed attack on a tourist bus.

Israeli ambassador in Egypt Shalom Cohen told Israel Radio said that he was in direct contact with Egyptian officials but, as far as he knew, there were no Israeli casualties in the attack. As it was the Passover at the weekend there would be few Israelis about it was reported although other reports say that there were 20,000 now said to be 1,800 Israeli's who ignored Government warnings and were on holiday in the region.

The Palestine news agency reports that during a phone with the Omer Suleiman, Head of Egyptian Intelligence, President Abbas condemned the terrorist attack against innocent civilians in Dahab resort in Sinai.

Emergency number for Israelis to call for information on Dahab explosions: 02-5303155
For UK citizens - 020 7008 0000.

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By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent

"Al-Qaida was behind Monday's terror attack in Dahab. Despite Egypt's efforts to halt Al-Qaida activity in the Sinai Peninsula, the radical Islamic terror organization clearly continues to operate adjacent to the border with Israel. It also smuggles explosive material from the same area. It emerged recently that Al-Qaida is also trying to set up a base in the Gaza Strip so as to infiltrate from into Israel to carry out strikes.

Egyptian authorities recently informed U.S. and international elements that in the framework of their activities, they successfully got rid of an Al-Qaida base in Jabal Hilal, in central Sinai. The Egyptian authorities moved large police forces and forces from special units into Sinai. After a car carrying two Egyptian officers went over a mine and the two men were killed, the special units were put into action and the base was eradicated."