Cairo Attacks Prompted by Revenge

01/05/2005| IslamWeb

Egyptian security officials have said the bombing and shootings in downtown Cairo on Saturday were acts of revenge connected to a 7 April bomb blast investigation.

An Interior Ministry statement identified the man killed in the explosion near the Egyptian Museum as Ihab Yusri Yasin, and said he jumped from the bridge during a pursuit, setting off the explosive he was carrying.

Hours after Yasin was killed, two women opened fire on a tour bus on the Salah Salim highway, one of the main arteries through the south of the city.

A total of 10 people, including tourists, were injured in the attacks.

Security officials have told Aljazeera.net Yasin was one of the most wanted men in connection with the 7 April bombing near the Khan al-Khalili bazaar.

The women were identified by the Interior Ministry as the bomber's sister Negat Yousri and her friend Iman Ibrahim Khamees.

The ministry said that after the bus attack, Negat shot and wounded her companion and committed suicide. Khamees died in hospital of her wounds. 

All three are reported to have been related to Ashraf Said, a suspect in the 7 April bombing who died in police custody a few days ago.

Acts of revenge?

Muhammad Sayid Said, political expert at the Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies, believes government torture of suspects might have been the motive for the revenge attacks.

"If the Interior Ministry's account is true, then these women were harmed some way or another very severely, and this bombing and shooting came as revenge. The family for sure suffered torture besides the disrespect that occurs in such circumstances [detention]," he told Aljazeera.net.

The issue of torture in Egypt's prisons was highlighted in a report by an Egyptian human rights group last month. The National Supreme Council for Human Rights (NSCHR) supported claims by international monitors that detainees were tortured during investigation, sometimes leading to their deaths.

The report also highlighted the death of a detained member of the outlawed but generally tolerated Muslim Brotherhood due to inadequate health care.

Fear of torture

Hisham Qasim, a leading member of the Kifaya (Enough) opposition movement, believes fear of detainment and torture might have pushed the relatives of Ashraf Said to acts of desperation.

"If what was said about the bomber's act being a sort of revenge for his cousin who died in detention, then most probably those who were involved in this bombing and shootings were acting desperately to evade imprisonment.

"They know that if they got caught by security forces, they will be tortured to death. Killing themselves this way was their only way out to evade this," Qasim said, in reference to media reports that the two women fired on one another rather than risk being captured by police.

PHOTO CAPTION

Egyptian policemen cover the body of a man at the site where a bomb was thrown. (AP)