Blast at hotel in Red Sea resort

[DoYouEverWonder]

Thursday, 7 October, 2004

An explosion at a hotel on the border between Egypt and Israel has caused several casualties, reports say.

The explosion took place in the Egyptian town of Taba, just across the border from the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.

The blast may have been caused by a gas leak, Israeli radio stations said.

However, Israeli security forces had warned Israeli tourists against visiting the region, saying it might be targeted by militants.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3725156.stm


Seems to be a bad day to be staying in a hotel in the Middle East.

[Moderator]

1. Kick

Kick

[MADem]

4. An eyewitness said

the whole front of the place collapsed, and it is aflame. Blood and bodies everywhere.

That does not sound like a "gas leak" to me. It's a HILTON, too--they usually do very good construction. I've stayed in quite a few "third world" Hiltons, and they are good--Sheratons are good, too. Apparently, they're tragedy magnets today...

[Leilani]

2. Wolfie Blitzer covering this right now.

He keeps talking about Israelis...isn t this in Egypt?

Egyptians bleed too.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. According to the BBC

the hotel is on the border.

[KharmaTrain]

6. It's Literally inches from Elat, Israel

If there are tourists, they're gonna be Israelis, Europeans and Americans. If there are Egyptians there, it's the hired help.

This is in land that Israel captured in '67 and turned over in '79 after Camp David and is part of a Jordan-Israel-Egypt area around the Gulf of Aquaba that's become a big tourist area.

[MADem]

10. ON THE BORDER

It's a tourist joint, one of those ones that went up post Camp David...popular with Israelis and Egyptians.

[Karmadillo]

3. CNN saying some witnesses saying gas explosions, others saying

terrorism (not sure how they'd know at this point).

[Scurrilous]

7. Blast at Hilton Hotel in Taba, close to Egypt-Israel border

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/485939.html

<snip>

"An explosion occurred at the Hilton Hotel in the Egyptian town of Taba in the Sinai Desert on Thursday evening, close to the border with Israel.

There were reports of casualties in the blast, which took place in the lobby of the hotel at around 10 P.M., causing the ceiling of the lobby to collaspse.

A fire then broke out at the hotel, and hotel guests on the upper floors were evacuated via the emergency exits."

<snip>

"The Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera said that most of those wounded in the blast were Israelis."

[ladybugg33]

8. I am sure everyone wants this to have been a gas explosion.

We will have to wait for the claims of responsibility. Seems more like a coordinated effort with the Baghdad bombings.


Fact: The world is not a safer place since Saddam was removed.

[Radius]

24. hamas claimed resp.

generally when Jews get blown up it isn't an accident.

Hamas predates the Iraq conflict.

[allemand]

29. I doubt that Hamas would attack inside Egypt.

They depend on Egypt in a certain degree. For example a crackdown on those tunnels on the Egyptian side of the border would make life much more difficult for them.

It seems that many Egyptians died or were hurt in the blasts. This disregard for Muslim casualties is also typical for al-Qaeda.

Of course you don't provide any link for that supposed "claim".

[Scurrilous]

30. From Haaretz:

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=486261&contrassID=1

<snip>

"Experts suspect Palestinian terror organziations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad would not dare carry out terror attacks in Egyptian territory. Past experience indicates they have never carried out operations in Arab states out of fear of harming local Arabs and also due to apprehension of harming relations with Arab regimes."

[Violet_Crumble]

31. No, they didn't...

And not even the right-wing Israeli media have been saying that they did, as far as I know...

Violet...

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. According to AP - the hotel is in Taba, Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt -- A strong explosion damaged the Hilton hotel in Egypt's Taba resort, only yards from the Israeli border, on Thursday night, witnesses said. Israeli medics said they had been informed of "a large number of casualties."

"The whole front of the hotel has collapsed," witness Yigal Vakni told Israel's Army Radio. "There are dozens of people on the floor, lots of blood, it is very tense."

"I am standing outside of the hotel, the whole thing is burning and they have nothing to put it out with," he added. "There is nothing here."

On Sept. 9, the Israeli government urged citizens not to visit Egypt, citing a "concrete" terror threat to tourists in an area.


http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-egypt-explosion,0,5080215.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[allemand]

11. Witness: The blast in Taba hotel appears to be a car bomb

23:11
Firefighters from Eilat arrive at the scene of blast in Taba; are battling flames at the Hilton hotel

23:08
Some people trapped under rubble after parts of Taba Hilton hotel collapse

23:07
Witness: The blast in Taba hotel appears to be a car bomb, parts of the vehicle are scattered in a 200 meter radius

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ShTickers.html

[Leilani]

12. I hope this is not terrorism

If it is, it proves the world is NOT safer because Saddam is in prison.

I feel for all the innocents, of whatever nationality.

[allemand]

16. Simultaneous explosions - this is certainly AQ style

but maybe the Palestinians are simply copying AQ style. I remember that there was an AQ attack on a synagogue in Tunisia, but have there been any AQ attacks in Egypt?

[Aidoneus]

18. There may have been bombs involved in the blasts! Obvious AQ style!

What rubbish..

[allemand]

20. AQ also targeted an Israeli-owned Hotel in Kenya in 2002

Simultaneous attacks are indeed typical for al-Qaeda. Bali, Madrid...

[jmcgowanjm]

35. Madrid was traced to Spanish Secret Police

Madrid 3/11 train bombing suspects linked to Spanish Security Services

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/OWE406A.html

THE man accused of supplying the dynamite used in
the al-Qaeda train bombings in Madrid was in possession of
the private telephone number of the head of Spain’s Civil
Guard bomb squad, it emerged yesterday.

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/OWE406A.html

Good rule of thumb:

When many "innocents" die, then it's Fascists.
When specific politicos, military, then it's Radicals.

And when did the CIA lose contact w/ Al Quaeda?
When did Israel lose contact w/ Hamas?

[allemand]

36. They should update their facts at "globalresearch"...

I guess they have already heard of www.google.com.

You quote from the article:
"THE man accused of supplying the dynamite used in
the al-Qaeda train bombings in Madrid was in possession of
the private telephone number of the head of Spain’s Civil
Guard bomb squad, it emerged yesterday. "

Well, it seems that this has already been debunked.

Do you read Spanish?

"Carmen Toro tenía el teléfono de un policía junto a un nombre igual al del jefe de los Tedax

<...>

Del Olmo enseguida relacionó el nombre con Juan Jesús Sánchez Manzano, el comisario jefe de la Unidad de Desactivación de los Tedax, cuya sede central se encuentra en Canillas (Madrid). El magistrado preguntó al guardia civil que le entregó la documentación si alguien había comprobado el número que aparecía en la agenda de Carmen Toro. Tras la negación del agente, Del Olmo hizo entonces lo que no se le había ocurrido a nadie antes y marcó el número de teléfono en cuestión. Su sorpresa fue mayúscula cuando la persona que le respondió se identificó como uno de los policías de la Unidad Central de Información Exterior (UCIE). En concreto, se trata de uno de los agentes que está investigando el caso a las órdenes del propio Del Olmo.

Cuando el juez le preguntó al agente por qué aparecía su número de teléfono en la agenda de Carmen Toro, miembro de la llamada 'Célula de Avilés', el policía replicó que se lo había dado antes de que fuera detenida, para que se pusiera en contacto con él si recordaba algún detalle más de los hechos. Sobre el motivo de utilizar los apellidos "Sánchez Manzano", dijo que él solía usar ese alias –nada menos que los apellidos del jefe de los Tedax– en otras operaciones."
http://www.libertaddigital.com/noticias/noticia_1276225697.html

In short, the private telephone number belonged to an agent involved in the investigation and he gave it to the wife of Trashorras before she was arrested.

[jmcgowanjm]

37. Blas Pinar, how's he doin?

These people are the descendants of the SS
Nazi
security apparatus. Allen Dulles negotiated
with
Schellenberg and company in 1944, and when
Roosevelt
was dead, and the moment Roosevelt was dead,
this
crowd began to dictate U.S. policy. That is the
fight
which Eisenhower fought against the fascist, Truman;
that's
the fight we had against Nixon; that's the fight we had
about
the previous Bush Administration; that's the fight
against
Cheney and war, today.

http://www.larouchepub.com/lar/2004/3113monterrey_press.html

To summarize, insufficient American troops in Iraq;
no connection between Saddam and al Qaeda or Saddam
and Zarqawi; no weapons of mass destruction or even programs for such weapons in Iraq under Saddam, all due to
the sanctions and UN inspections; Israel, with American approval, is using the Gaza withdrawal plan to thwart any
chance for peace negotiations with the Palestinians (and yet
all the problems are apparently entirely the fault of
the Palestinians); and the real situation in Iraq is not
being reported in the disgusting American media (and
you'll probably lose your job if you attempt to write anything
close to the truth). More truth serum, please.

http://xymphora.blogspot.com/

[allemand]

13. Two more explosions reported

23:32 Al- Jazeera: Three blasts heard in Egypt: One in Taba, one at Ras -a Satan and one in Nueba
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ShTickers.html

[allemand]

15. Explosions Rock Two More Egyptian Border Resorts

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Explosions rocked two resort towns in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, shortly after a massive blast in the Hilton Hotel near Israel killed at least 23 people, Israeli radio stations reported.

The radio stations reported explosions in the Egyptian resorts of Nueiba and Ras al-Sultan dozens of kilometers (miles) to the southwest of Taba where the first explosion occurred. Thousands of Israelis have been vacationing in the Sinai Peninsula over the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6445427

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. So we're up to five hotels so far?

But Bush told us today, that it was going to be schools?

[allemand]

23. Egyptian TV: 43 people wounded in Nueiba, 40 of them non-Egyptians

00:43 Egyptian TV: 43 people wounded in Nueiba, 40 of them non-Egyptians

00:32 Anti-terror unit in Prime Minister`s Office calls on all Israelis to leave Sinai immediately

00:25 Egyptian police: 7 people killed in Ras al-Sutan were Egyptian workers

00:23 Israeli police: At least 30 people killed in Hilton Hotel blast in Egypt, most of dead believed to be Israeli tourists

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ShTickers.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. Egyptian arrests?

update from that page:
00:45 Egyptian TV: Egyptian police have made initial arrests of people suspected of involvement in Sinai bombings

[Minstrel Boy]

14. CBC reports 23 Israelis killed n/t

[MADem]

19. It will be interesting to see....

where the rest of the explosions took place. If they targeted US-owned or name-branded facilities, you'd have to be blind not to get the big "FU" message they are sending us, via our friends in Israel.

This totally sucks...but it sure takes the heat off of weecowboy's little "No Iraqi WMD" confession in the Rose Garden today. Talk about a good day to release bad news...between this, the Baghdad Sheraton taking a couple of RPGs, and Tom DeLay in the shits, no one is gonna remember that weecowboy admitted that fuckup.

I still think the DNC should make an ad out of that confession...with images of the faces of our kids who have died superimposed over it.

[geek tragedy]

21. The only question is whether it's Palestinians, international, or Egyptian

terrorists.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. Or Negroponte's pals?

Or some combo of any of the above.

[PassingFair]

26. Kick

Updates anyone?

[Scurrilous]

27. Thirty five dead, over 150 injured in Sinai terror attacks

http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=11226

Taba Hilton, Ras a' Satan and additional resort near Nuweiba attacked. Yoseftal hospital overwhelmed, many injured airlifted to other hospitals.

<snip>

"The biggest attack occurred at the Taba Hilton. A massive explosion, believed to be caused by a suicide terrorist in a motor vehicle packed with explosives rocked the hotel. An entire wing collapsed as a result.

Shortly afterwards reports came in of additional attacks at other resorts, specifically Nuweiba anbd Ras a' Satan.

Israeli medical and rescue treams have assumed responsibility for emergency operations at Taba. In addition Israeli ambulances are on their way to Nuweiba, however many of the injured have been evacuated to Egyptian medical facilities at sharm and Suez. Contrary to previous reports, no IAF operation to airlift injuired from Nuweiba has begun.
Initially the wounded were brought to Eilat's Yoseftal Hospital, however the volume of injured overwhelmed the small hospital, and IAF helicopters evacuated many of the wounded to larger hospitals in the center of the country. In addition urgent appeals went out for any doctors, especially surgeons, who happen to be vacationing in the Eilat area to assist the Yoseftal medical teams. MDA has airlifted over 150 liters of blood to Eilat.

The Jamaya Islamiya movement has claimed respoinsibility for the attacks. This Egyptian Islamic fundemantalist terrorist organization was responsible for the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat, and came very close to endangering the Mubarak regime before being crushed by the Egyptian authorities in a series of brutal crackdowns."

[allemand]

28. Israel blames al-Qaeda for blasts

From correspondents in Jerusalem
October 8, 2004

ISRAEL today blamed al-Qaeda for a series of bomb attacks in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

"According to our first information, it appears to be the an international terror attack with the hallmarks of al-Qaeda, Israel's deputy defence minister Zeev Boim said.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11011255%255E1702,00.html

A previously unknown pro-al Qaeda Islamist group called Islamic Tawhid Brigades claimed the blast on a Web Site. The claim, along with one from another unknown group calling itself the World Islamist Group, could not be verified.

But Israel's deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim told reporters the attack appeared to be the work of "international terror groups like al Qaeda or branches of it."

"It is not the kind of attack that we know comes from Palestinian terror organizations," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6447789

Apparently, there were two blasts at the Hilton hotel.
From the same article:

"Israeli officials said a truck bomb loaded with explosives rammed into the hotel lobby where it blew up and a suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the swimming pool moments later."

[hang a left]

32. KICK N/T

[allemand]

33. Sources: Terrorists planned to attack three Sinai hotels simultaneously

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

Israeli security experts participating in probe of bombings; Ras Satan car bombs may have exploded prematurely due to technical problem. <...>

The initial results of probe suggest that the two car bombs that exploded in the resort of Ras Satan were originally designed to blow up at different Sinai hotels. Egyptian security sources told their Israeli counterparts that the terrorists had planned to blow up three hotels, but that two blew up prematurely.

Investigators probing the Taba bombing say that the vehicle used to carry out the attacks, in all probability a truck, was laden with a huge quantity of explosives. It is still not clear whether the bomb was detonated by remote control, or whether a suicide bomber drove it into the hotel.

Israeli sources say that had received four pieces of intelligence information regarding planned attacks in Sinai. Three of these related to planned attacks by Palestinians, while the fourth indicated that a global Islamic group was planning an attack.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/486334.html

[allemand]

34. Israeli Official Blames Blasts on Al Qaeda

The Associated Press
Friday, October 8, 2004; 9:06 AM

JERUSALEM - Israel's intelligence chief told Cabinet ministers Friday that multiple car bombings at Egyptian resorts were most likely carried out by al Qaeda, Israeli officials said.

The intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, made the assessment at an emergency Cabinet meeting convened a day after the bombings killed at least 28 people, including a number of Israelis, and wounded more than 120.

The bombings targeted two Sinai Peninsula resorts packed with Israelis - the Taba Hilton just south of the Israeli border and a camp site in Ras Shitan, further to the south.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17425-2004Oct8.html