Reuters New Media
Tuesday November 18 5:07 PM EST
By Esmat Salaheddin
LUXOR, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's
biggest Islamic militant group said Tuesday it had carried out the Luxor
attack in which nearly 60 tourists killed in an attempt to free its leader
from a U.S. prison. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group) said in a statement
received by Reuters that it had planned to take hostage as many tourists
as possible to force the release of its leader, blind cleric Sheikh Omar
Abdel-Rahman, from a U.S. jail.
The Gama'a said the aim was to win freedom for its leader, blind cleric
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted in 1995 in the United States for conspiring
to blow up the United Nations building and other New York City landmarks.
The claim of responsibility came a few hours after President Hosni Mubarak
vowed to tighten security at the Luxor temple where the militants launched
their deadliest attack in Egypt to date.
"We will take much tougher measures in the area," Mubarak told
reporters at the Hatshepsut temple. "We are going to close all entrances
to the area, except the main gate." He had flown to Luxor, 310 miles
south of Cairo, with top cabinet ministers to see for himself the scene
of Monday's carnage in which the Interior Ministry said 58 foreigners and
four Egyptians were slain.
The Gama'a statement said: "In a courageous operation ... a Gama'a
unit tried to take prisoner the largest number of foreign tourists possible
at one of the tourist temples in Luxor, with the aim of securing the release
of the general emir of al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, Dr. Abdel-Rahman, historical
Gama'a leaders and sons and other prisoners held in American and Egyptian
jails. "But the rash behavior and irresponsibility of government security
forces with regard to tourist and civilian lives led to the high number
of fatalities," it said.
The group said 15 militants carried out the attack, four of whom had been
killed and two captured. Officials have said only six gunmen were involved
and all were killed by police. An Interior Ministry statement said 31 Swiss,
eight Japanese, five Germans, four Britons, one Colombian, one French and
one Bulgarian national were among the dead. Seven foreigners had not been
identified, it added. Four Egyptians, including two policemen, were also
killed.
Swiss officials in Berne put the Swiss death toll at 35, with five unaccounted
for. Britain has confirmed six Britons killed. Germany says it believes
four Germans died. Japan has said 10 Japanese were killed, including seven
honeymooners.
Monday, an Egyptian tour company employee said he saw a leaflet signed by
a brigade of the Gama'a saying "No to tourists in Egypt" beside
the body of a Japanese vacationer.
Mubarak, in his first public comment on the bloodbath, said the perpetrators
were funded from outside Egypt, but did not specify who they were and who
was behind them. "This could happen anywhere in the world," he
said of the attack aimed at Egypt's $3 billion-a-year tourism industry.
"We will fill the gaps they (the attackers) went through. Such people
who kill human beings are not Muslims, Christians or Jews ... they are criminals.
They are given money from outside the country," the president said.
"The whole world should cooperate against this terrorist group. For
sure we are going to overcome this crisis," he said. Mubarak shook
hands with some of the tourists milling around the 4,500-year-old temple
amid heavy security.
American tourist Mark Bryars, from Waycross, Georgia, said he had arrived
in Luxor Monday by boat from Aswan, but figured security would be improved
after the attack and it would be safe to visit the area's Pharaonic temples
and tombs. But he said he had just heard from a U.S. consular official that
Americans had been warned to stay away from southern Egypt. "We probably
wouldn't have come if we had heard earlier," he told Reuters. "We'll
cut short our stay in Egypt if possible." Mubarak has ordered a full
investigation into the attack in Luxor, which analysts saw as a devastating
blow to Egypt's image as a tourist destination and a promising emerging
market. British travel companies started an airlift Tuesday to evacuate
hundreds of Britons from Egypt and cancelled tourist flights to the country.
Seven empty aircraft flew to the southern Egyptian resort to bring home
Britons wanting to cut their holidays short after the attack. Another four
special flights were expected back from Egypt later in the day. Japan said
it was considering warning tourists against travelling to Egypt after the
bloody attack. France advised travellers to the North African country to
be extremely cautious.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat said the attack only underscored
the need to boost the economy of the Middle East. "The stock market
doesn't deserve this," lamented Bassim Arida at Cairo brokerage Prime
Investments. "The lovely macroeconomic picture that Egypt has been
enjoying lately will be halted by the drop in one of its major components,
tourism."
Almost 1,200 people, including nearly 100
foreigners, have died in the
political violence which began five years ago. Ninety militants have been
sentenced to death, mostly by military courts, and 57 have been executed.
Monday's assault coincided with the opening of a military trial of 66 men
charged with belonging to the Gama'a.