A haze still surrounds the investigations into the Sharm El-Sheikh bombings, but, as Jailan Halawi reports, the theorising has intensified Nearly two weeks after the bombings that rocked Sharm El-Sheikh on 23 July -- killing 64 and injuring 200 -- security sources remained cautious about the information they were providing the media and the public about their investigations into the attacks. The Interior Ministry has made clear, however, that it is sweeping, with the help of Bedouin guides, the rough terrain in the mountainous area surrounding the Red Sea resort, where suspects are believed to have taken refuge. Varying reports have placed the number of people detained in the blast investigations between tens and hundreds. Security sources say that only those actually suspected of taking part in the attacks are kept in custody, while others merely summoned for questioning are later released. Security measures in northern and southern Sinai, meanwhile, have been drastically stepped up. The area's security alert was raised to the highest level, with forces deployed almost everywhere in and around Red Sea resorts. On Monday, the ministry announced that police had shot dead one of the key suspects, identified as Mohamed Feleifel, in an exchange of fire near Gebal Ataqa (Ataqa Mountains) west of Suez. His wife and four- year-old daughter, who were with him, were injured; according to some reports, his wife died on her way to hospital. A security source confirmed this. Feleifel, who is being tried in absentia in connection with last October's Taba bombings, which killed 34, was already on the run. His brother Suleiman was killed in the [Taba] blasts along with a Palestinian believed to be the mastermind of the operation. The ministry's statement said security forces, acting on a tip, were approaching a group of people hiding in mountain quarries near Ataqa when gunmen opened fire at them. During this exchange, Feleifel was killed. The ministry statement appears to contradict earlier reports alleging that Feleifel was killed in one of the 23 July bombings along with another suspect, Moussa Badran. Two other men besides Feleifel -- Mohamed El-Sabah and Mohamed Rubaa -- are standing trial for the Taba blasts. Both men have pleaded innocent, saying their confessions were made under duress. The trial is in recess until mid-August. From day one, speculation about a connection between the blasts in Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba has been rife. Security forces are still hunting for a green pickup truck in northern Sinai suspected of being the getaway vehicle that some of the perpetrators of the Sharm blasts used to flee the scene of the crime following the three bombings that leveled the lobby of the Ghazala Gardens Hotel, the Old Market area and a beach front parking lot. Investigators are also looking into international links, including the funding of possible Sinai terror cells. It also remains unclear who the mastermind behind the blasts might have been. According to one security source speaking on condition of anonymity, an Egyptian branch of a foreign group, who are clearly targeting Sinai's security and stability, carried out both the Taba and Sharm El-Sheikh attacks. This group, the source noted, "is funded generously in a way that enables it to infiltrate highly secured systems, collect data, as well as buy explosives and vehicles used in the attacks." Although it is still too early to blame specific regional or international groups of possible involvement, the sophistication of the operations -- particularly in light of other attacks using similar techniques around the world, such as last month's targeting of UK public transportation networks -- has inspired political experts to ask questions regarding both the possible beneficiaries and the message the attacks are trying to convey. While some political analysts drew parallels between the techniques used in Sinai and those used by Al-Qaeda in other places, others pointed a possible finger at Israel. In either case, the goal was clear: "undermining Egypt, shaking its stability, and questioning its sovereignty over its territories". One political expert said the attacks bore the marks of intelligence services connections, seeing as how it clearly involved infiltrating the nation's most stringent security systems. He urged authorities to look in this direction, if they weren't doing so already. On an official level, Egypt is discounting an Al-Qaeda connection. In an interview with CNN this week, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said he has seen no signs of Al-Qaeda's involvement. Nazif did say, however, that the methodology used in the attack was not typical of previous incidents that had taken place in Egypt, and had clearly involved "some cooperation of locals, [namely] the tribesmen in Sinai, [which is] the main assumption we're working on right now". Describing Sinai Bedouins as "peaceful people", Nazif noted that tribal outcasts might be behind the attacks. Police have taken DNA samples from four Sinai families in an attempt to match them with samples from the remains found at the site of the blasts, on the assumption that some of the bombers were killed. At the same time, a statement released by Prosecutor- General Maher Abdel-Wahed said it was still too early to decide, and that the final results will take time. The samples were reportedly taken from families living in or around the north Sinai town of Al-Arish. The town -- whose population is a mix of settled Bedouin, immigrants from the Nile Valley and Palestinian refugees -- was also the focus of the investigations into the Taba attacks. According to some reports, the DNA samples were taken from the families of Moussa Badran, Ehab Rabia, Osama El-Nakhlawi and Khaled Muaad, all of Bedouin origin. Earlier reports noted that Badran was identified through DNA testing as the alleged suicide attacker who rammed a pickup truck packed with explosives into the Ghazala Gardens Hotel. It was also reported that the security apparatus has a list of suspects that includes at least 15 names of militants, including Bedouin tribesmen and other Sinai natives. It said most of those on the list were thought to have carried out, planned or prepared the attacks. Investigators were also checking the possibility that individuals in two villages close to Sharm might have either helped the attackers prepare the explosives, or provided assistance in navigating the complicated mountain routes that only Bedouins know by heart. When Al-Ahram Weekly visited the villages, Al-Rowayisat and Al-Khoroum, residents expressed their anger about such speculation, insisting that -- on the contrary -- they are the ideal people to look after the area's security since Sharm El-Sheikh "is not only our hometown, but also the source of our bread and butter". Bedouins from across the peninsula pointed to the financial loses they have suffered, since the tourism they rely on as their main source of income has been hit severely by the attacks. As a token of their good intentions, the Bedouins have agreed to a new security arrangement with the government to help hunt for suspects and keep watch on the inner regions of the desert. Other reports alleged that security forces had identified seven of the perpetrators, arresting four of them, while three remained at large. The crux of the investigations, according to these reports, is the source of the vehicles used in the attacks and other leads, many of which confirm links between the culprits of both the Taba and Sharm attacks, and all of whom are Al-Arish Bedouins. These findings, said the reports, are being kept secret until investigations are complete.
