LONDON: An EgyptAir mechanic whose cousin joined Daesh in Syria is suspected of planting a bomb on a Russian passenger plane that was blown out of Egypt’s skies in late October, according to sources.
So far Egypt has publicly said it has found no evidence that the MetroJet flight, which crashed in the Sinai Peninsula after takeoff from Sharm El-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board, was brought down by terrorism. A senior security official at the airline denied that any of its employees had been arrested or were under suspicion.
But the sources, who preferred anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation, said the mechanic had been detained, along with two airport policemen and a baggage handler suspected of helping him put the bomb on board.
“After learning that one of its members had a relative that worked at the airport, Daesh delivered a bomb in a handbag to that person,” said one of the sources, adding the suspect’s cousin joined Daesh in Syria a year and a half ago.
“He was told to not ask any questions and get the bomb on the plane.” Another source said of the other suspects: “Two policemen are suspected of playing a role by turning a blind eye to the operation at a security checkpoint. But there is a possibility that they were just not doing their jobs properly.” None of the four have been prosecuted so far, the sources told Reuters.
Meanwhile, a government official said Egypt has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since the plane disaster occurred. South Sinai Gov. Khaled Fouda was quoted by the state-run Al-Ahram daily as saying that hotel occupancy in the resort cities of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada stands at less than 20 percent and that the cities lose more than $250 million each month.
So far Egypt has publicly said it has found no evidence that the MetroJet flight, which crashed in the Sinai Peninsula after takeoff from Sharm El-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board, was brought down by terrorism. A senior security official at the airline denied that any of its employees had been arrested or were under suspicion.
But the sources, who preferred anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation, said the mechanic had been detained, along with two airport policemen and a baggage handler suspected of helping him put the bomb on board.
“After learning that one of its members had a relative that worked at the airport, Daesh delivered a bomb in a handbag to that person,” said one of the sources, adding the suspect’s cousin joined Daesh in Syria a year and a half ago.
“He was told to not ask any questions and get the bomb on the plane.” Another source said of the other suspects: “Two policemen are suspected of playing a role by turning a blind eye to the operation at a security checkpoint. But there is a possibility that they were just not doing their jobs properly.” None of the four have been prosecuted so far, the sources told Reuters.
Meanwhile, a government official said Egypt has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since the plane disaster occurred. South Sinai Gov. Khaled Fouda was quoted by the state-run Al-Ahram daily as saying that hotel occupancy in the resort cities of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada stands at less than 20 percent and that the cities lose more than $250 million each month.
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