A Palestinian driver targeting Israelis masterminded bombings that killed 33 people at Egyptian resorts on October 7th and he himself died in one of the explosions because the timer was badly set, Egypt said today.
Egyptian authorities have arrested five men, all Sinai residents, on suspicion of helping the four bombers, who left three car bombs at the Red Sea resorts frequented by Israelis, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The statement named the four bombers and said they believed that the Palestinian mastermind and his companion, a Sinai Bedouin named Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Fulayfel, died by accident in the explosion at the Taba Hilton hotel.
Two other men, also Sinai Bedouins, were the bombers at two beach camps south of Taba, it said. A security official said the police were still looking for them.
The statement named the alleged leader as Iyad Said Saleh, a resident of el-Arish, a northern Sinai town which has a substantial population of Palestinian origin and lies on the main route between Gaza and Cairo.
Saleh had a criminal record, including rape, but had shown signs of religious extremism before he died, it added.
The Israeli authorities said at the time they suspected Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group was behind the attacks. But the Egyptian government said that was jumping to conclusions and they suspected a link with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The group had stolen three cars and rigged them up with explosives extracted from old munitions found in the desert and used washing-machine parts to make timers.
Saleh and Fulayfel drove the explosives-laden vehicle to the Taba Hilton and tried to run away. But the timer detonated the explosives before they had time to leave the scene.
The five men under arrest are suspected of either helping steal cars, provide information to the bombers or help rig the cars with explosives, the statement said.
They include a dealer in stolen cars, an employee of a shop selling electrical appliances, the owner of a holiday camp, an employee of the government irrigation department and the owner of an el-Arish workshop which turns metal parts on lathes.