A top American intelligence official has said “no direct evidence”
had yet emerged pointing to terrorism being involved in Saturday’s crash of a Russian Metrojet airliner in Egypt’s Sinai desert that killed all 224 people on board.
But adding to the continuing cloud of mystery around the incident – whose causes are not known – James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, said a terrorist attack could still not be ruled out.
Clapper’s comments came amid a day of contradictory statements as claims by the airline’s operator that a technical fault could not be blamed were slapped down as premature by a senior Russian aviation official.
Russian officials have said the plane, carrying holidaymakers from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg, probably broke up in mid-air but said it was too early to say what caused it to crash and – despite purported leaks to the contrary – investigators in Egypt had not begun sifting through the two flight recorders’ data.
Addressing the issue of whether the Airbus 321 could have been brought down by Islamic State, as claimed in a video posted online, Clapper echoed the judgment of aviation and security experts who have suggested the group does not have a missile system capable of downing a jet flying at over 30,000ft. “It’s unlikely,” he told reporters, “but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
The comments came as investigators continued to probe the cause of a crash, which occurred 20 minutes after take-off over Egypt’s northern Sinai, an area where Isis-affiliated militants are present and as it was announced that rescuers had completed a search of the 20 sq km crash site.
But adding to the continuing cloud of mystery around the incident – whose causes are not known – James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, said a terrorist attack could still not be ruled out.
Clapper’s comments came amid a day of contradictory statements as claims by the airline’s operator that a technical fault could not be blamed were slapped down as premature by a senior Russian aviation official.
Russian officials have said the plane, carrying holidaymakers from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg, probably broke up in mid-air but said it was too early to say what caused it to crash and – despite purported leaks to the contrary – investigators in Egypt had not begun sifting through the two flight recorders’ data.
Addressing the issue of whether the Airbus 321 could have been brought down by Islamic State, as claimed in a video posted online, Clapper echoed the judgment of aviation and security experts who have suggested the group does not have a missile system capable of downing a jet flying at over 30,000ft. “It’s unlikely,” he told reporters, “but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
The comments came as investigators continued to probe the cause of a crash, which occurred 20 minutes after take-off over Egypt’s northern Sinai, an area where Isis-affiliated militants are present and as it was announced that rescuers had completed a search of the 20 sq km crash site.
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