Arrests after Egyptian Bombings

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Egyptian security forces have arrested 35 people following Saturday's bomb attacks in Sharm al-Sheikh, which killed at least 88 people.

The arrests came after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak vowed to hunt down those behind the bombings.

In the worst attacks in decades in Egypt, three explosions - including two apparent car bombings - devastated a hotel, a car park, and a market.

Most of the dead are Egyptians, but foreigners are among the victims too.

An Italian man on his honeymoon and a Czech citizen have been confirmed dead and at least 20 of those injured are thought to be foreign.

The blasts came within minutes of each other in the early hours of Saturday, when the bars and markets of the Red Sea resort were busy.

In the most devastating attack, a bomber rammed his car into the Ghazala Gardens hotel in Naama Bay, according to an eyewitness.

The front of the luxury hotel was destroyed in a huge explosion.

A few hundred metres away, a bomb went off in a car park near the Moevenpick Hotel, causing widespread damage and casualties.

In the Old Market area, about 4km (2.5 miles) away, 17 people - believed to be Egyptian - were killed by another suspected car bomb, rescue officials said.

"This will only make us more determined to pursue terrorism and eradicate it," said President Mubarak after visiting the bomb scenes.

"We will not give in to its blackmail, or seek a truce."

Investigation

Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adli said police were following leads.

He added that investigations appeared to show a connection with bombings that killed 34 people last October in the resort of Taba, in the Sinai peninsula.

Egypt has blamed those attacks on a Palestinian man leading an unaffiliated group.

In a statement posted on an Islamic website, a group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaeda, said it carried out the bombings.

However, the statement did not appear on well-known al-Qaeda websites and it was impossible to authenticate the claim.

US President George W Bush condemned the "barbaric terrorist attacks", which he said were an "assault on the civilised world".

The bombings happened at the height of the summer tourist season, and coincided with an extended holiday weekend to mark the anniversary of the 1952 Egyptian revolution.

The previous worst attack in Egypt was in 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians near the southern city of Luxor.

Tourism is Egypt's most lucrative industry, worth about $6.6bn a year.

PHOTO CAPTION

Egyptian security personnel and forensic experts examine the rubble of a hotel after it was destroyed by a bomb in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh July 23, 2005. (Reuters)

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