Police hunt suspects in Egypt resort terror attack

By SARAH EL DEEBAssociated Press Writer

Demonstrators light candles in front of the blown-up Ghazala Gardens Hotel in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, Sunday. A rapid series of car bombs and another blast in this Egyptian Red Sea resort devastated Saturday a luxury hotel and a coffee shop and killed at least 88 people. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer) SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — Police investigators said Monday that they were searching for six Pakistani men as the probe into the weekend’s terrorist attack at this Red Sea resort widened.

Police were circulating photographs of the six, who have apparently been missing since before the attacks, at checkpoints in and around this southern Sinai resort city. An Associated Press correspondent who saw the images said the men appeared to be between the ages of 20 and 30. The involvement of Pakistanis in the attack in Sharm elSheik would be unprecedented, as non-Egyptians have rarely been linked to attacks here. It would also be extremely difficult for a group of young Pakistanis not to be noticed in Sharm, one of the heaviest policed cities in Egypt and a favorite place of residence for President Hosni Mubarak.

An official at the Pakistan Embassy in Cairo said his embassy was in contact with Egyptian authorities over the issue of the missing Pakistanis.

‘‘But they have not officially informed us that the Pakistanis are suspected of involvement in the bombing. They are only saying: ’We are searching for them. We cannot trace them,‘‘’ said Khalid Ahmed, a counselor at the Pakistani mission.

‘‘It is very difficult for us to confirm whether any Pakistani was in Sharm el-Sheik but it is possible that someone may have been there. I have a strong belief that Pakistanis cannot be involved in terrorism here,’’ he said. Many Pakistanis use Egypt as a route to travel to Europe to find jobs, he said. Last week, police arrested between 40 and 45 Pakistanis in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria for being illegal immigrants.

Police have detained more than 70 people in Sharm and other parts of the Sinai Peninsula during the investigation, which is also following different threads, including possible Palestinian involvement and whether the attacks were linked to last October’s bombings in two other Sinai resorts.

The investigators, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the inquiry, said they are looking into whether the six men had any involvement in carrying out Saturday’s attack, Egypt’s deadliest ever. Police were to conduct DNA testing on the remains of a suicide bomber found in a car that rammed into the Ghazala Gardens Hotel in Naama Bay, the city’s main tourist area, early Saturday. Two other blasts rocked a car park near the hotel and an area about two miles away called the Old Market.

According to local hospitals, Saturday’s pre-dawn bombings killed at least 88 people; Egypt’s Health Ministry put the death toll at 64. Hospitals said the ministry count does not include a number of sets of body parts. At least one American was killed.

If independently confirmed, any involvement of Pakistanis would suggest that those behind Saturday’s bombings belong to a much wider terror network than previously thought. Until the latest news broke Monday, suspicions had primarily focused on a Sinai-based network thought responsible for bombings in the area last October that also targeted tourist sites.

The involvement of the Pakistanis, if proven, would also increase suspicions that Osama bin Laden’s alQaida may have been involved in the attacks. The Saudi-born bin Laden is popular among militant Pakistani groups and is known to enjoy support in tribal areas.