Bomber embraced extremist ideas
Egypt, Local, 4/13/2005

An Egyptian Interior Ministry press release on Monday said Raafat Ahmad Bashandi, who was born in Al Qalubiya in 1987, was Thursday's bomber.

Bashandi is at the Benha branch of the Zagazig University's Faculty of Engineering. He lives in Ezbat Othman in Shubra Al Kheima, a densely-populated middle-class neighbourhood in Cairo.

The Ministry's statement said that all indications showed that Bashandi was preparing his explosive charge to be ready for detonation when it ill-timely went off killing him and two tourists, a French woman and an American man.

He was carrying a bag containing three kilogrammes of the highly-explosive TNT and a considerably large amount of nails of all sizes, said the Ministry.

It said that the intensive search for the culprit of the bomb attack had led the investigative team to Bashandi.

After linking Bashandi to the attack, security forces immediately searched his home and seized from there CDs carrying destructive and extremist ideas and lectures on the Salafist Jihad and information about making rudimentary bombs from components that can be easily found on the market.

According to the statement, forensic scientists had to go back to the scene of the attack a few times to look for parts of Bashandi's hands which were missing from his disfigured body that was split into half by the power of the blast, so as to take fingerprints and be able to identify him. They said that a composite picture of him helped in his identification and later the results of DNA samples confirmed him to be the bomber.

Eleven Egyptians and eight foreigners were wounded in the evening bombing that targeted a crowded bazaar where shops sell perfume, jewelry, carpets, spices and souvenirs to tourists. Investigations are still going on to find whether Bashandi was linked to any terrorist group or he had been acting alone or not.

The Ministry of Interior renewed commitment to maintaining security of the country adding that any attempt to tamper with the security and stability would be severely confronted.

Previous Stories:
  Perpetrator of Al-Azhar attack identified   (4/12/2005)
  Zahi Hawaas: Sobek temple to reopen   (4/11/2005)
  Three killed in Cairo explosion   (4/8/2005)

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