Britain said yesterday there was a significant possibility that Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate was behind a suspected bomb attack on a Russian airliner that killed 224 people in the Sinai Peninsula.
A Russian aviation official said the investigation was looking into the possibility of an object stowed on board causing the disaster.
Islamic State, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria and is battling the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula, said again on Wednesday that it brought down the airplane, adding it would eventually tell the world how it carried out the attack.
Egypt, a close ally of the US and the most populous Arab country, dismissed a similar claim of responsibility for the crash by Islamic State on Saturday.
Caution among Egypt officials in assessing the cause of the crash has not eased anxiety among tourism companies that handle visitors to Egypt’s ancient sites and Red Sea resorts.
Shares on Thomas Cook opened down 2.1% as the UK cancelled flights to Egypt.
Sisi has described Islamist militancy as an existential threat to the Arab world and the West and has repeatedly called for greater international efforts to combat the militants.
Britain said it was working with airlines and Egyptian authorities to put in place additional security and screening measures to allow Britons in Sharm el-Sheikh to get home, but that would take time and there would be no flights returning from the resort yesterday.
On Wednesday, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) directed all Irish airlines not to fly to or from the Sinai Peninsula until further notice. The Russian-operated plane was registered in Ireland and the IAA is taking part in the official investigation into the crash.
Security experts and investigators have said the plane is unlikely to have been struck from the outside and Sinai-based militants are not believed to possess the technology to shoot down a jet from a cruising altitude above 30000 feet.
Sinai Province has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police since Sisi, as army chief, toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013.
Sisi was elected president last year on promises he would stabilise Egypt and rebuild its shattered economy. Critics say his tough crackdown on Islamists will only create more radicals in Egypt.— Reuters