Egypt's finding on Russian jet crash conflicts with others
NOUR YOUSSEF
December 14, 2015 7:34 PM
December 14, 2015 7:34 PM
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt said Monday it has not yet found any sign
of terrorism in the deadly Oct. 31 crash of a Russian passenger jet in the
Sinai desert, a preliminary[1]
finding that conflicts with Russian, U.S.
The vaguely worded[3]
Egyptian statement reflected the deep reluctance[4]
among government authorities to point to the possibility of a bomb, and the
implication[5] of
lax[6]
security at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, where the Metrojet plane took off.
The Airbus A321-200
broke apart 23 minutes after departing the Red Sea resort for St. Petersburg Russia
to halt[7]
all flights to and from Egypt ,
while Britain Egypt
Several officials
involved in[12] Egypt
Soon after the crash,
the U.S. and Britain Moscow
A local affiliate of
the Islamic State group claimed responsibility and released an online photo of
what it said was the bomb used to bring the plane down — a soft-drink can
packed with explosives with wires that appeared to be a kind of detonator[22].
The head of Egypt
He also complained
that the countries contending[25]
a bomb was to blame have not given his investigators "any information
indicating[26] unlawful
interference" with the plane.
The ministry-led
investigation, in which Russia and several other countries are taking part, has
so far focused on technical aspects of the plane, including analyzing cockpit[27]
voice and flight data recorders. The prosecutor's[28]
office has a separate inquiry involving the Interior Ministry, which is
supposed to determine whether a criminal act took place.
The head of the
prosecution-led investigation, Emad el-Dahshan, told AP, "We have no
suspects." He said video surveillance of the airport showed nothing.
But two officials
involved in the investigations said Egyptian police had run their own tests of
wreckage[29]
that had come up positive for traces of explosives, and that the results were
received even before Ismail made his comments. The officials spoke on condition
of anonymity[30]
because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation.
The results of the
tests have not been made public. Police spokesman Abu Bakr Abdel-Karim said he
had no information on the test. Asked about the test, el-Dahshan referred the
AP to another prosecutor, who did not answer calls for comment. The Civil
Aviation Ministry could not be reached for comment, but a member of its
investigation said his team had not been informed[31]
of any wreckage test results.
Three officials
involved in the investigations said the authorities' reluctance to acknowledge
a bomb could have been smuggled into the airport stems from their refusal to
admit[32]
to a security failure and it is affecting the seriousness of the probe.
"They are in denial[33],"
said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to talk to the media.
Among the security
gaps is insufficient video surveillance of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport. The
area where planes are parked for loading, refueling and boarding is about 50
square kilometers (19 square miles), and it is covered by fewer than 20
security cameras, the three officials said. Airport security officials have
complained before about the lack of cameras and the poor resolution of those in
place, they said.
The bags for the
Metrojet flight remained out of camera sight for 50 minutes after leaving the
sorting area, two of the officials said. Only one camera managed to capture the
plane from a distance. It appears small and grainy[34]
in a corner of the video, but it's difficult to see clearly which of the almost
40 ground service[35]
employees went near it, they said.
Also, they said, many
people working at the airport, including most of the police and local hotel
catering employees delivering food for the planes, are not properly searched
when entering. Nearly two-thirds of the food trolleys were loaded onto the
Metrojet flight without being X-rayed, the officials said.
One of the officials
involved in the investigation said 35 airport employees entered the facility on
Oct. 31 with lunch bags that were not X-rayed.
"And these are
just the violations of that day. It could have been smuggled before the 31st.
How far back should we look?" said one of the officials.
Authorities
"don't want to admit that there are security shortcomings that can allow
for that to happen," he said. Security officials believe airport police
who often accept bribes[36]
to smuggle in various illegal items "would not have the heart" to
smuggle a bomb, he added.
Airport employees with
access to the Metrojet plane have been interviewed multiple times by
investigators, asked mainly about their movements Oct. 31 and whether they saw
anything suspicious[37],
the officials said. No one has been put under official investigation.
Almost no voices in
the mostly pro-government Egyptian media have considered a bomb a possibility.
Some on TV and in newspapers have said that if it was a bomb, it was probably
smuggled aboard during a stopover[38]
in Turkey Turkey ,
according to el-Muqadam, the plane's itinerary and officials from Russia
The theory seems
rooted in politics: Egypt's relations with Turkey have been strained[39]
ever since the military's 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi,
whose Muslim Brotherhood is supported by Ankara.
Nevertheless,
el-Dahshan, the head of the prosecution investigation, cited the theory as a
possibility. "Turkey
After the 1999 crash
of EgyptAir Flight 1990 into the Atlantic Ocean near the Massachusetts
island of Nantucket
that killed all 217 people aboard, U.S.
At the time, Egyptian
authorities accused the Americans of failing to share information with them,
similar to the complaints [41]they
are making now.
___
Associated Press writers Lynn Berry in Moscow and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-no-sign-yet-terrorist-act-russian-plane-092055346.html
Keywords
沒有留言:
張貼留言