Bomb theory: Putin orders halt to Egypt flights

Russia ordered a halt Friday to flights to Egypt as concerns grew that a bomb downed a Russian plane after takeoff from its Sharm el-Sheikh resort.

President Vladimir Putin called the halt to Russian flights, the Kremlin said, in line with a recommendation from his security chief, although Moscow had downplayed reports that a bomb caused the crash last Saturday. Mr Putin “ordered the government to work out mechanisms” to halt flights and to repatriate Russian citizens, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

The ISIS jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the disaster, in which the Saint Petersburg-bound jet last weekend crashed minutes after taking off, killing all 224 mainly Russian tourists on board. Cairo has sought to downplay the suggestion of an attack. But President Barack Obama told a US radio station: “I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board and we are taking that very seriously,” while emphasising it was too early to say for sure.

At an emergency meeting in Moscow, the head of Russia’s FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, said it would be prudent to halt flights for now. “Until we have determined the true reasons for what happened, I consider it expedient to stop flights by Russian aviation to Egypt,” Mr Bortnikov said.

Russia’s decision to suspend flights to Egypt does not mean a Russian airliner crash on Saturday was caused by a terrorist attack, Kremlin spokes-man Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Flights will be suspended until the required level of industry safety has been reached by working with Cairo, Mr Peskov added.

In London, where Prime Minister David Cameron hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday, the British Premier told reporters it was “more likely than not that it was a terrorist bomb” that caused the crash. And the Times newspaper reported on Friday that electronic communications intercepted by British and US spies suggested a bomb may have been carried onto the plane.

A joint intelligence operation used satellites to uncover the chatter bet-ween militants in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula and Syria, it said. “The tone and content of the messages convinced analysts that a bomb had been carried on board by a passenger or a member of the airport ground staff,” the newspaper reported, without giving a source.

Egypt’s foreign ministry told AFP on Friday that the analysis of the black boxes and wreckage had yet to finish. “Time should be given for the analysis. The minute that the analysis is ready it will be made public,” ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said. He said Egypt had beefed up security at airports to “give confidence to the British government, but that does not mean we concur with any scenario.”

The aviation minister, Mr Kamal, said there was “as yet no evidence or data confirming the theory” of an attack. Mr Sisi sought to use his trip to London to allay fears over the safety of tourists in Egypt after several nations suspended flights. There is no global or European blanket ban and some flights, including all Russian ones before Mr Putin’s order on Friday, have continued from the airport. But France and Belgium have warned citizens against travelling to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Around 45,000 Russians are currently on holiday in Egypt, Oleg Safonov, the head of Russia’s state tourism agency, Rostourism, said on Friday.