Three bombings rock Egypt's Sinai resort, at least 23 killed

EGYPT: Three nearly simultaneous bombings hit an Egyptian beach resort popular with foreigners Monday, killing at least 23 people on streets filled with vacationers and Egyptians marking the beginning of spring.

The bombers struck the Sinai seaside city of Dahab in the early evening along a crowded promenade of shops, restaurants and bars. Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said those killed included 20 Egyptians and three foreigners. Sixty-two people were wounded.

The bombings - the third terror strike on a Sinai resort in less than two years - hit Dahab at 7:15 p.m. when the streets were jammed with tourists strolling, shopping or looking for a restaurant or bar for evening festivities by the tranquil waters of the Gulf of Aqaba.

"There were just three loud bangs and people rushing around," British tourist Paul McBeath told Sky News. "Everybody is shaken."

Another witness said the Al Capone restaurant, one of the area's most popular spots, was destroyed. "The tables and chairs have gone, there is nothing left," Joseph Nazir, who owns a safari company in Dahab, told Britain's Press Association. "Everybody is panicking, a lot of people are crying. We will be affected by this for a long, long time."

Hotels and guesthouses were filled with foreigners and with Egyptians celebrating the long Coptic Christian Easter weekend that coincided this year with Shem al-Nessim, the ancient holiday marking the first day of spring.

President Hosni Mubarak, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism, called the blasts a "sinful terrorist action."

U.S. President George W. Bush also condemned the attacks.

"Today we saw again that the terrorists are willing to try to define the world the way they want to see it," Bush said in Las Vegas.

The Interior Ministry said the wounded included 42 Egyptians and 17 foreigners - including three Americans - while police put the number of wounded at more than 150. The discrepancy could not be immediately be explained.

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.

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-run Palestinian Cabinet, condemned Monday's bombings as a "criminal attack which is against all human values. We denounce the attack, which harmed the Egyptian national security."

After Monday's attack, Egyptian television footage showed body parts scattered on the streets, bloodstained pavement and destroyed shops littered with broken glass. Cairo, Tuesday, AP