Security forces continue their siege of Jabal Halal in hot pursuit of suspects wanted in connection with the triple bombings of Sharm El-Sheikh. Jailan Halawi reports On Tuesday, Minister of Interior, Habib El-Adly confirmed that investigations into the Sharm El-Sheikh triple bombings had been completed, while the search for more suspects was still underway. Thousands of security forces and armoured vehicles remain deployed around Jabal Halal, or Mount Halal, nearly 60kms south of Al-Arish, from which many of the suspected militants wanted in connection with the Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba and Al-Gourah blasts, are believed to have originated. As of last week, police have launched a wide-scale operation in search of suspected Islamist militants believed to be hiding out in the Sinai Peninsula's mountains. On 15 August, unidentified assailants detonated a crude roadside bomb that slightly injured two female members of the Multinational Forces and Observers (MFO) and damaged their patrol vehicle. The blast took place near an MFO camp in Al-Gourah, nearly 30km southeast of Al-Arish on Sinai's Mediterranean coast, about 15kms from the Egyptian border with Gaza at Rafah. On 23 July, three suicide bombings rocked the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh killing 67 and injuring 200 others. On 7 October 2004 twin bombings killed 34 people, including several Israeli tourists, in the Taba resort. Security reports had earlier asserted a link between the Sharm blasts and Taba bombings. The role played by the Sinai Bedouins in the triple blasts of 23 July at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh and the 15 August Al-Gourah attack on members of the MFO, remains unclear. However, security officials seem certain that Bedouin outcasts assisted the attackers. They suspect that Bedouins may have provided arms, or helped the attackers navigate through the desert and find refuge in the mountainous areas. On Tuesday 23 August, 16 groups of special forces from the central security unit, in cooperation with forces from anti-terrorism and general security units, carried out a raid of the mountains. The area is spread out over some 240kms and consists of rugged mountains that host a number of dunes and valleys. The rocky and perilous Sinai mountains make its dunes and caves close to impossible to access without the assistance of local guides, who are able to master their way through the mountains even in the darkest of nights. Outcast Bedouins are known to use the area as a safe haven. Since the raids began last week, two explosions have left two senior security officials dead and more than a dozen policemen and officers injured. The occurrence of a third explosion -- reported by the press to have taken place on Saturday 27 August -- has been denied by security forces. The first explosion took place on Wednesday 24 August, the second day of the mountain raid, as an armoured vehicle travelled back to their point of departure to fetch supplies for the forces. A land mine -- planted by suspects -- exploded under the vehicle, badly injuring two policemen as well as a lieutenant and Bedouin guide. The second explosion -- which caused heavy casualties -- occurred on Thursday 25 August when a hidden land mine exploded while forces were clearing the overturned vehicle and inspecting the scene of the first blast. The concealed land mine claimed the lives of two senior security officials, Major-General Mahmoud Adel and Colonel Amr Abdel-Moneim, and seriously injured nine police officers including the head of the special security forces. Following the Thursday explosion, reports were circulated that claimed the security raid has been suspended and forces were ordered to retreat. However, security officials have denied such claims, asserting that for security reasons, forces were instructed to wait until the de-mining unit team had cleared the area from explosives. According to security sources, parts of Sinai still contain land mines which were planted during the wars between Egypt and Israel. However, last week's explosions suggest that fugitives have laid mines as part of their new battle tactics with police forces. Investigations have also revealed that the kind of explosives that killed the top ranking security officials were the same as those used in the deadly string of attacks in the region. Such links have raised speculations among security analysts that the three attacks were spearheaded and executed by militants of the same cell. On Sunday 28 August, as the sweep continued, two suspects were arrested by security forces as they attempted to escape from the mountain siege, while three others managed to flee in a truck through the valleys. According to security reports, most of the suspects have either been identified or arrested but their names will not be announced until the whole cell is captured. Some security reports claim that dozens of suspects have been held for questioning since the hunt started, while other press reports allege that hundreds have been rounded up. No official figure has been released by the Ministry of Interior. Meanwhile, security sources have identified the leader of the outcast Bedouins under siege in the Halal Mountain as Salim El-Shannoub, who is known among his fellow Bedouins as the "mountain devil". Security sources have stated that El-Shannoub is wanted by authorities in connection with a number of drug trafficking and smuggling cases and that he is also wanted for questioning regarding the Sharm attacks. Reportedly, El-Shannoub had summoned Al-Arish MP Engineer El-Kashef Mohamed to his hideout in the mountain, where he proceeded to deny any links with the terrorist attacks. He insisted that terrorism did not fall within his many professions which include drug and arms trafficking as well as smuggling tourists across the mountain borders. In an interview published on Tuesday 23 August by the US-based New York Times newspaper, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was quoted as saying that the government is currently examining the social factors in north Sinai that might have inspired young men in the area to become involved with such attacks. He added that authorities were studying two theories about who was behind the bombings. The first theory suggests that security forces were "too aggressive" in handling the north Sinai locals following last October's Taba attacks, and thus prompted retaliation by locals. Following the Taba bombings, human rights organisations claimed that the police responded excessively. Authorities are said to have detained 5,000 North Sinai residents as they searched for the perpetrators of the attacks. This massive wave of arrests was accompanied by widespread allegations of torture at the hands of police forces in Al-Arish. There was no comment from the Ministry of Interior regarding such allegations, but security sources speaking on customary condition of anonymity later described such allegations as "exaggerated". Nazif's second theory suggests the group involved in the attacks might have international connections with militant cells such as Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda. The statements made by Nazif have sparked much debate, particularly among the opposition press who have suggested that criticism of the police forces' heavy- handedness might indicate that the government is dissatisfied with the Ministry of Interior's performance. Nevertheless, on Friday Nazif issued a statement in which he praised the performance of the security forces and expressed the state's appreciation for the Interior Ministry's "core" role in maintaining security and stability nationwide. The minister's latest statement came as part of his tribute to the deceased top ranking security officials who died in the Jabal Halal operation last week.
