Terror on the Beach 4/24/06
April 24, 2006 — -- We begin with bloodshed on the beaches of Egypt, as terrorists strike a resort on the Red Sea at dinner time, when the streets were crowded with vacationers and tourists. Three nearly simultaneous blasts tore through the low-key beach town of Dahab tonight, killing at least 23 and wounding more than 100 others. The attack came at the height of the spring holiday in Egypt, and it came one day after the last taped message of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in which the terrorist icon issued a call to arms. So, was this latest act of mass murder the work of al Qaeda or is Islamic terrorism bigger than Bin Laden now? ABC's chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, joins us with the latest details. Brian?
BRIAN ROSS, ABC NEWS
The attack was the third of Egypt's Red Sea resort area in the last two years. Imagine repeated attacks like that on Miami Beach. And it came despite a series of highly-publicized crackdowns by Egyptian security services.
BRIAN ROSS
The bombs went off just after sunset, as vacationers crowded beach front restaurants and stores for the evening.
OWEN NORRIS, EYEWITNESS
Everyone was out having dinner and shopping.
BRIAN ROSS
Australian Owen Norris had just begun dinner.
OWEN NORRIS
We were at a restaurant two down from where the first bomb went off. It was just a massive explosion. Yeah. We sort of ran from the hotel and then ran back again to try and find friends. And there were lots of bodies around. People running with blood coming out of their faces.
BRIAN ROSS
20 of the dead were identified as Egyptian. Three for foreigners, including a German child. The US Embassy in Cairo says at least four Americans were among the injured. Officials believe the bombs were hidden in packages along the beachfront, timed to go off in rapid succession. Cairo pharmacist Mohammed Macald was in his hotel room.
MOHAMMED MACALD, EYEWITNESS
I felt amazing shaking. I thought it was like a war or something going on. I ran out, everyone started running out of their rooms and going to reception. And then the second one happened like, six, seven seconds after the first one. And then, the third one happened right after that.
BRIAN ROSS
Some shopkeepers were outraged. "I'm saying it for all to hear," said this one. "If I or the boys in my shop had seen the perpetrator, I would not just get a hold of him, I would kill him, even if I would be arrested. I would not just grab him. I would chop him and eat him." This shopkeeper said, "I came to see it like this. Our friends who were working here now lay on the floor. Our God would not accept this. Neither would the Muslims or the Christians. We leave them to God. That is all I can say."
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE
It presents a major, powerful, painful blow to the Egyptian government and the Egyptian economy.
BRIAN ROSS
Why?
FAWAZ GERGES
The Egyptian economy depends on tourism. Sinai is the nerve center of the Egyptian tourist industry. And today, guess what, is the beginning of the tourist season in Egypt. Here, we can attack you, despite every single security precaution that the government has taken since 2004.
BRIAN ROSS
2004 was the year of the first attack on an Egyptian Red Sea beach resort, when 34 people were killed at Taba. Last July, there was a second attack at Sharm al-Sheikh. 64 people were killed, leading to a harsh crackdown by security forces.
FAWAZ GERGES
Brutally suppressing the local population. Arresting hundreds of alleged suspects. And basically torturing some other ones in order to extract information of who carried out the 2004 attacks. So, there's a great deal of resentment, of anger, of rage, against the authorities.
BRIAN ROSS
The attack comes one day after a taped message from Osama bin Laden was made public. There's no mention of Egypt on the Bin Laden tape. But a former head of the Israeli Secret Service, the Mossad, Ephraim Halevy, says he suspects al Qaeda did play a role, helping the people responsible for today's attack.
EPHRAIM HALEVY, FORMER ISRAELI SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR
Probably Al Qaeda gave the inspiration. Maybe more than just inspiration. And that's the way al Qaeda's operated in various places around the world, linking up to local terrorist groups, local groups which are intent on causing this kind of disruption.
BRIAN ROSS
Today's carnage demands quick and even harsher steps, according to Halevy.
EPHRAIM HALEVY
I think the Egyptians have no option but to crack down on this because if they don't crack down upon it, sooner or later terrorism can consume the country. And this cannot be tolerated.
BRIAN ROSS
Risking even perhaps a possible backlash from citizens?
EPHRAIM HALEVY
Rrisking even a backlash. I mean, terrorism cannot be accepted and cannot be condoned.
BRIAN ROSS
Whoever was responsible, today was a reminder of the power of random terror and the inability of even the harshest measures to stop it.
FAWAZ GERGES
And the fact that militants can still strike three times in the same vicinity, despite the security precautions taken by the Egyptian government, tells you that the security situation is much more fragile in Egypt than the Egyptian government would like us to believe.
BRIAN ROSS
As day dawns in Egypt at this hour, the attack is being condemned almost everywhere, from President Bush to a spokesman for Hamas.