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 An Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for the
crash of the Airbus A321 operated by a Russian carrier that was
bringing holidaymakers home from the Sinai Peninsula resort of Sharm
al-Sheikh one week ago.
All 224 people on board were killed in what the militants described
as revenge for Russian air strikes against Islamist fighters in
Syria.
Russia, Turkey and several European countries have suspended flights
to Sharm al-Sheikh and the United States has imposed new air travel
security requirements in the wake of the crash.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, speaking hours before
authorities were due to make an announcement about their
investigations so far, said it would be wrong to speculate on the
cause until findings were delivered.
 But he said Cairo was not ruling out any possibility, and suggested
countries now flagging the likelihood that militants were behind the
crash should have heeded Egypt's repeated calls for coordination to
combat militants.
"The spread of terrorism, which we have for a long time called on
our partners to tackle more seriously, did not get through to many
of the parties which are now exposed and which are currently working
for the interests of their citizens to face this danger," Shoukry
told a news conference.
He also expressed frustration that foreign intelligence about the
cause of the crash had not been passed on to Cairo.
"The information we have heard about has not been shared with
Egyptian security agencies in detail," he said. "We were expecting
that the technical information would be provided to us."
EXPLOSION
An Egyptian source close to the investigation of the Russian plane's
black boxes said on Wednesday the cause of the crash was believed to
be an explosion, but it was not clear whether that was the result of
a bomb.
Western intelligence sources have said British and U.S. spies
intercepted "chatter" from suspected militants suggesting that a
bomb, possibly hidden in luggage in the hold, downed the plane.
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U.S. television network NBC said some communications between Islamic
State leaders in Syria and the Sinai Peninsula included boasts about
bringing down the jet. "They were clearly celebrating," it quoted
U.S. officials as saying.
On Friday, Moscow suspended flights to Egypt, leaving nearly 80,000
Russians stranded, mainly in the Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and
Sharm al-Sheikh, and adding to the growing chaos facing many
tourists.
British attempts to fly home thousands of holidaymakers on Friday
were mired in confusion when Egypt restricted the number of flights,
citing capacity limits at Sharm al-Sheikh airport and British
airliners' refusal to take passenger luggage in the hold.
British media reported on Saturday that a British passenger jet came
close to being hit by a rocket as it came in to land at Sharm
al-Sheikh in August, although the British government said it
concluded the incident was part of routine Egyptian military
exercises, not a deliberate attack.
The pilot of the Thomson flight from London to Egypt took evasive
action after spotting the missile coming toward the plane as it flew
to the Red Sea resort, the Daily Mail reported.
Egypt's Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou said Cairo regretted the
suspension of flights and was doing all it could to secure its
airports and tourist sites, adding that he would fly to Sharm
al-Sheikh to oversee measures to support tourists there.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Michael Georgy and Janet
Lawrence)
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