Egypt Arrests 8 For Tourist Blasts

Says Mastermind Died In Sinai Explosions Targeted At Israelis

(AP)  Eight Egyptians have been arrested and accused of plotting the nearly simultaneous car bombings of a hotel and tourist camp in the Sinai that killed at least 34 people earlier this month.

In a statement Monday, the Interior Ministry also said the mastermind of the attacks, identified as Palestinian Ayad Said Salah, died in the Oct. 7 explosion at the hotel along with a fellow plotter, Egyptian Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil. The statement said the two had been trying to leave the scene but their timed explosives went off prematurely.

The Taba Hilton was heavily damaged in the worst of three near-simultaneous Oct. 7 blasts blamed on terrorists. Two other car bombs exploded at bungalow campgrounds in Ras Shitan, also in the Sinai Peninsula. The resorts were packed with Israeli tourists who had traveled down during a Jewish holiday.

One of those arrested, Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, was the brother of the Egyptian killed carrying out the hotel bombing, the ministry said. Mohamed Flayfil was accused of carrying out the attack on one of the campgrounds.

A second suspect under arrest, Hammad Gaman Gomah, was accused of carrying out the third bombing. The statement said the Flayfil brothers and Gomah were residents of the Sinai and that Salah, the Palestinian, lived in the Sinai town of al-Arish.

The other six, all also from the Sinai, had lower level roles, including obtaining explosives and the cars used in the attacks.

Numerous claims of responsibility have surfaced, none of which has appeared particularly credible.