Alex bombing investigations: Questions that remain unanswered

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Nine days following the bombing of an Alexandria church that took the lives of 23, question abound concerning the findings of investigations.

On Sunday, the prosecution office in Alexandria finished interrogating around 80 people, including those injured in the attack, and other eyewitnesses.

On Saturday, Maqar Fawzy, a pastor at the bombed church, was questioned as a witness by the prosecution office.

A Quran seller believed to trade near the mosque nearby the church failed to present himself for questioning and is currently sought after by the police.

Two reports will be added to the investigations carried out by the prosecution: one prepared by forensic experts (for the Ministry of Justice) and the other by the Department of Criminal Evidence (for the Ministry of Interior).

The Ministry of Interior is also awaiting further information from Interpol, as it is suspected that the attack’s perpertrators may be from outside Egypt.

1. What are the details of the crime scene investigations?

Street workers were seen later on the same morning of the attacks, Saturday 1 January, clearing up the bombing’s detritus. On the following Saturday, forensic experts investigated the crime scene a second time. Contradictory and rushed conclusions by the police, the Ministry of Interior and the prosecution office suggested that a detailed investigation of the scene had not been carried out in the aftermath of the bombing.

After the attack, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement saying that a preliminary check showed that a car, which the ministry said caused the explosion, had been standing in front of the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter.

However, hours later on Saturday, the ministry issued a detailed statement saying that the car was not the source of the explosion. The statement indicated that the exploded container was locally made and carried by a suicide bomber who died in the attack. The statement added that non-Egyptians planned and supervised the operation.

Initially crime scene investigators were denied entry to the church because angry youth were throwing stones at the mosque opposite. Investigators found it difficult to scan the site of the church until 3 AM.

At around 9 AM on Saturday, after ambulances left with the last nine dead bodies, around five prosecutors were finishing their first report while experts from the Department of Criminal Evidence were seen to finish their investigation.

2. What about the suicide bomber?

Until Tuesday 4 January there was no information from either the police or the prosecution office about the bomber. However, on Tuesday police said that a "severed head" found at the scene would lead to information about the suicide bomber--a man in his 30s, inspired by Al-Qaeda tactics, they said.

Police said that the bomber detonated a belt packed with between 10-15 kg of TNT, bolts and ball bearings while the worshippers emerged from the church after mass.

On Wednesday 5 January, the Ministry of Interior announced the discovery of an unidentified corpse which it believed to be the bomber. Police distributed to the media a composite drawing, having reconstructed the face of the suspect from remains found at the site of the blast.

On Thursday 6 January, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram quoted security sources as saying that the forensic evidence gathered at the site suggested the bomber may have detonated his device prematurely and did not intend to kill himself. The sources added that the bomber was probably 23 to 25 years old--not in his 30s, as police previously suggested.

The sources also said that forensic evidence such as electronic circuits and debris collected showed that the bomber used a bag resembling a school or travel bag loaded with 20-25 kg of high explosives--not a belt packed with between 10-15 kg of TNT as police had previously said.

"The forensic investigation showed that the impact on the body of the perpetrator indicates the explosion occurred by mistake or before the planned time, because it caused his body parts to scatter over several meters," Al-Ahram wrote.

However, reasons for claiming that the head belonged to the suspect remain unclear. "Our [prosecution] office has no information about the photo of the suspected perpetrator published in today's newspapers," Alexandria District Attorney Yasser al-Refaey told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday.

Alexandria’s prosecutor indicated that the authorities are still trying to identify the suspected suicide bomber.

"Nobody had a clue about how the explosion had happened or the person behind it," the Alexandria prosecutor office said in a statement on Thursday.

Moreover, having disseminated the suspect's portrait, police have received many reports from citizens about the bomber. But police say that most of these notifications are baseless.

However, police also announced that they received information that the bomber rented an apartment in Dekheila district in Alexandria, and frequented a coffee shop and hairdresser in that area.

3. Does anybody or organization claim the responsibility for the bombing?

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, which came one year after the shooting of six Copts in the Upper Egyptian city of Naga Hammadi.

The Alexandria bombing came two months after Al-Qaeda attacked the Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, which killed at least 58 people.

Al-Qaeda later said its objective was to force the release of two Coptic priests' wives in Egypt, who, Al-Qaeda claimed, had converted to Islam and were being held against their will.

Egyptians missing in Lebanon found in Syrian prison, says official

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Syrian authorities have informed Egypt that three Egyptian citizens who were reported missing in Lebanon are currently in Syria, Assistant Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdel Hakam said today.

Abdel Hakam added that Syrian authorities notified the Egyptian embassy in Damascus of the arrest of three Egyptians on charges of illegal entry into Syrian territories.

The Egyptian embassy in Damascus has contacted the three arrested Egyptians and is currently working toward their release and return to Egypt, added Hakam.

Egyptian media had reported that the three Egyptians were abducted from Lebanon this week and taken to Syria.

Al-Ahram paper said the families of the three abducted Egyptians received phone calls from an anonymous number calling from Syria to demand a ransom for the release of the three. According to Al-Ahram they were not released despite the payment of the requested ransom.

The paper also reported that the Egyptian embassy in Beirut was working closely with Lebanese security authorities to investigate the kidnappings.

Algeria appoints Shearman to advise on Orascom nationalization

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Algeria has provisionally appointed law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP to advise it on the nationalisation of Orascom Telecom's local mobile phone unit, the official news agency reported on Monday.

The firm is scheduled to complete within 100 days a valuation of the Djezzy unit, the subject of a long-running dispute between the Algerian government and Orascom Telecom, the official APS news agency reported.

Djezzy has been Orascom Telecom's biggest single source of revenue and uncertainty over its future has confused a planned US$6.6 billion deal for Russia's Vimpelcom to acquire Orascom Telecom assets.

Algeria's government has hit Djezzy with hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes and barred it from moving profits abroad. It also blocked Orascom Telecom from selling the unit to South Africa's MTN.

Orascom Telecom reluctantly agreed to enter talks on nationalisation, but there is still no clarity about whether the state will buy all or part of Djezzy, how much it will pay and how long the process might take.

EU leads international condemnation of Tunisia

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Brussels--The European Union led international condemnation on Monday of Tunisia's weekend crackdown on a wave of food protests which killed 14 people, and urged Tunis to restrain its security forces.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "concerned about events that have been taking place in Tunisia in the past days" and called for the release of detained protesters.

"We deplore the violence and the loss of lives and express sympathy to families of the victims," Ashton's spokeswoman said.

"We call for restraint in the use of force and for respect of fundamental freedoms."

"We call for the immediate release from detention of bloggers, journalists, lawyers and other people who were detained, who were peacefully demonstrating in Tunisia."

France, the former colonial power, appealed for calm after weeks of protests against high prices and unemployment in the North African country turned deadly at the weekend.

"We deplore the violence, which caused casualties, and call for calm," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, adding that only dialogue would allow Tunisians to overcome the economic and social problems confronting them.

"Cooperation between France and Tunisia is strongly focused on employment and will remain so. Now there is an urgent need for calm in Tunisia."

The United States last week raised concerns with Tunisia about its handling of the unrest and called for "restraint".

Washington also expressed concern over apparent "interference" with the internet by the Tunis government, accused of arresting dissident bloggers and hacking and blocking certain websites.

Valero said France had no details on these alleged activities but reiterated its commitment to "freedom of expression in Tunisia and throughout the world."

Tunisia's government said 14 people were killed in clashes over the weekend when its security forces opened fire on protesters. The interior ministry said its forces shot at the crowds "in self defence" and only after warnings were given.

An opposition leader said at least 20 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the neighbouring south-central towns of Tala and Kasserine, 290km south of Tunis, and in the town of Requeb.

The clashes marked the biggest unrest to date since protests over rising food prices and rampant youth unemployment erupted in the region in mid-December.

Scores killed in Iran air crash

Red Crescent official says 70 people have died after flight from Tehran goes down near Orumiyeh. Last Modified: 09 Jan 2011 18:58 GMT

The number of deaths is expected to increase as many of the injured were in serious condition [Reuters/IRNA] Up to 70 people on board an IranAir passenger jet have been killed and more than 30 injured after it crashed in the country's northwest, IRNA, the Iranian news agency, says quoting an Iranian Red Crescent official. The aircraft crashed near Orumiyeh at around 16:15 GMT on Sunday, an official in West Azerbaijan province was quoted by state television's website as saying. "The airplane took off an hour later than scheduled time from Tehran towards Orumiyeh and because of bad weather conditions came down in a village area near Orumiyeh," the unidentified official said. Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said that roughly 70cm of snow has blanketed the ground in the Orumiyeh, around 700km north of Tehran. "This plane has been one of these very old kind of aircraft that are still serving in Iran's airlines - a Boeing 727, which is more than 40 years old," he said. The US-made aircraft has been out of production since 1984. The semi-official Fars news agency initially reported that 105 people were believed to be on board, but an official statement said that there were 95 passengers and eight crew members in total. Shahrokh Nioushabadi, a spokesman for IranAir, told the semi-official Mehr news agency that two children were among the passengers. The Iranian Red Crescent said many of the injured passengers were in serious condition, and the number of deaths is likely to increase. State television showed footage of the wreckage of the plane, which appeared to have broken into several sections on impact. Huge gaps were rent in the fuselage, parts of which were open to the night air as snow fell. Passenger plane crashes are not uncommon in Iran, where sanctions have prevented Iran from purchasing parts for its commercial fleet. The last major air crash in Iran was in July 2009 when a Caspian Airlines Tupolev aircraft bound for Armenia caught fire in mid-air and crashed into farmland near the city of Qazvin, killing all 168 people on board. One of the country's worst air accidents happened in February 2003 when an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard.

Source: Agencies

US-China move to mend military ties

Defence chiefs make first strategy agreement in years, marking an end to suspended military ties between the two powers. Last Modified: 10 Jan 2011 09:44 GMT

Gates is the first US defence secretary to visit Beijing in more than a decade [Reuters] The US and Chinese defence chiefs have taken major steps toward mending frayed military relations between the two world powers despite frictions over US arming of Taiwan and trade issues. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, and his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie agreed on Monday in the Chinese capital, Beijing, to set up a working group to explore a more formal, regular dialogue on strategic issues. The agreement, along with Gate's visit to China is seen as a bridge-building step. It marks the end of a rocky year in which Beijing cut off defence ties with the United States over a $6.4b arms sales to Taiwan in January last year. Taiwan is an autonomous breakaway island that China claims as its territory. Both defence chiefs urged a boost in military ties as a vital way to resolve disputes. "Both of the two sides should make joint efforts to enlarge our common interests, resolve difficulties and disagreements and to make sure the relationship between the two militaries will move forward on the right track and in the stable manner," Liang said. On his part, Gates said that the US and China "are in strong agreement that in order to reduce the chances of miscommunication, misunderstanding or miscalculation, it is important that our military-to-military ties are solid, consistent and not subject to shifting political winds". China has the potential to "put some of our capabilities at risk." Robert Gates, US defence secretary Contentious issues Gates, the first American defence chief to visit China since 2000, is on the first leg of a four-day trip to Asia. He extended an invitation to the chief of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) general staff to visit Washington in the first half of this year. "I come away from these meetings convinced that the PLA leadership is as committed to fulfilling the mandate of our two presidents as I am,'' Gates said at a news briefing on Monday. But the step forward on strategic talks falls short of protecting ties between the militaries from further ruptures. Liang refused to guarantee that Beijing would refrain from suspending military ties in the future, especially if there are future arms sales to Taiwan. Such arms sales "severely damage China's core interests,'' Liang told reporters. He also insisted that the US needs to pay more attention to what China wants. China arms development 'worrying' Gate's visit to Beijing comes a week before Chinese President Hu Jintao goes to Washington, and both governments are trying to smooth over substantial friction over trade, North Korea and Iran's nuclear programmes and China's generally more assertive diplomatic posture. Al Jazeera's Melissa Chang, reporting from Beijing, said "there has been quite a lot of posturing between the two sides". "You have got revelations from the Chinese of new developments in their military, including the "Air-craft Carrier Killer", and also the stealth fighter," she said. Gates has recently said that China's rapidly developing defence capabilities are worrisome to the United States. China is thought to have made strides in building a new stealth fighter jet, and Washington is also concerned about a new ballistic missile that could theoretically explode a US aircraft carrier nearly 3,200km out to sea. China has also apparently surpassed US estimates to develop the jet and the missile. 'More aggressive China' Gates told reporters travelling with him to Asia on Sunday that China had the potential to "put some of our capabilities at risk". "We have to pay attention to them. We have to respond appropriately with our own programs,'' Gates said. Gates and Liang on Monday denied their governments are entering an arms race. Liang, dressed in his military uniform, animatedly defended China's growing capabilities, calling them "entirely appropriate and consistent with China's rise as an economic and political power". When asked if China would eventually become a threat to US supremacy, Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told Al Jazeera that China "is going to start asserting itself and become more aggressive". "Certainly not to crowd out the US but to equal the US as a power to be reckon with," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Clash in Bangladesh as stocks dive

Police fire tear gas as thousands rally in capital, Dhaka, to vent their anger at record 9.25 per cent plunge in stocks. Last Modified: 10 Jan 2011 11:24 GMT

Protesters gathered outside the stock exchange building to denounce the dive in stocks [AFP] Trading has been halted at Bangladesh's main stock exchange amid protests over the largest single day loss in the bourse's 55-year history. The exchange halted trading on Monday as per orders from the Securities and Exchange Commission after the benchmark index plunged 9.25 per cent within the first hour of trading. Buses of riot police were deployed to the stock exchange building in the capital Dhaka where protesters chanted slogans against the government and market regulators. Some protesters burned vehicles as riot police struggled to keep control, firing tear gas and charging the crowd with batons. Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque, reporting from the capital, said: "Because Bangladesh's stock market is largely driven by individual retail investors, many investors have lost their savings." Monirul Islam, an investor attending the protests, told the AFP news agency: "I lost $70,000 dollars. This is insane - my whole savings are gone." "I poured all my money into the Dhaka stock exchange," Humayum Kabir, another Bangladeshi investor, said. "The finance minister lured us into the stock market, he told us it was safe, but now we have lost everything. They artificially jacked up the prices of junk shares and now our savings have vanished," Kabir said. Necessary correction The country's stock exchange hit a record high of 8,918.51 on December 5, but it has so far lost 27.4 per cent, which many experts have called a necessary correction. Tanvir Chowdhury, the editor of the online journal News from Bangladesh, told Al Jazeera: "One of the factors that could explain these dramatic losses is how the market has widened but the number of the shares does not match the expectations of the people waiting to buy. There is also a lot of speculation from investors who do not understand the stock market. "Small time entrepreneurs who have little money to invest think they'll get a quick return out of the market by buying stocks without realising the real face value of the stock versus the performance of the companies they are buying from, but it doesn't work like that," Chowdhury said. Prices of shares have suffered a series of slides since early December after the stock regulator and the central bank took measures to cool the market, prompting some street protests. The central bank had raised banks' cash requirement ratio from 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent, effective December 15, to rein in on inflation and to curb runaway credit flow, especially to the volatile capital markets. Call money market rates also hit a record high last month. Some banks have invested 75 per cent of their deposits in the stock market against a ceiling of 10 per cent and had been told to get back under the limit by December 30. This deadline has now been extended to January 15.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies