Egypt says no evidence criminal action behind plane crash

Egypt continued to insist it had no evidence of criminal action in the Russian airliner crash over the Sinai peninsula last month that killed 224 people, despite Moscow's claim a bomb was deployed.

Egypt's government held its weekly meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh to show solidarity with a tourism industry hit by cancellations following the crash. The cabinet had arrived in Sharm when Moscow made its announcement.

The prime minister and several members of the government would not be drawn into endorsing Russia's conclusions. "The Egyptian authorities affirm they will take into consideration the investigations that the Russian side reached . . . in the comprehensive investigation," prime minister Sherif Ismail said.

Interior minister Magid Abdel Ghaffar promised if a security lapse were to blame for the crash the culprits would be punished. But he said it was too early to draw that conclusion. "Regarding Sharm al-Sheikh airport, when we discover that there have been security lapses, action will be taken, but up to now we have no information about lapses in the search and security procedures."

The minister added that Egyptian authorities had increased security at all airports and were now searching all bags, passengers and staff and conducting regular security sweeps. Egypt was also allowing foreign experts to review security measures at its airports to ensure they met their standards.

Scenarios

Egypt stopped short of denying an attack brought down the aircraft. Civil aviation and interior ministers said all scenarios for the cause of the October 31st crash were being investigated.

Russia took samples of from the crash site for analysis, sources at the civil aviation ministry said, and Egypt would include the conclusions of that analysis in the official investigation once they had been formally received.

Egypt’s civil aviation minister said its investigation had not reached a conclusion: “Up until this moment, there is no evidence of crime.” – (Reuters)