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Britain and Egypt to Meet Amid Concerns Bomb Brought Down Russian Plane British Prime Minister Says Bomb ‘More Likely Than Not’ Caused Russian Plane Crash
(about 3 hours later)
LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt were to meet at Downing Street on Thursday amid British concerns that a chartered Russian jet may have been brought down in the Sinai Peninsula by an explosive device — fears that Egyptian and Russian authorities said were premature and had not been substantiated. LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said Thursday that “more likely than not a terrorist bomb” had brought down the Russian chartered jet that broke apart over the Sinai Peninsula last Saturday, despite criticisms from officials in Egypt and Russia that his assessment was premature.
The meeting, at which the two leaders were to discuss the security issues raised by the crash, could be tense. On Wednesday evening, the British government halted all flights between the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el Sheikh and Britain, affecting an estimated 20,000 British tourists who must be brought home. Egypt, whose tourism industry has already been hurt by the crash over the weekend, called the decision to cancel the flights premature. Mr. Cameron defended his government’s decision on Wednesday to suspend flights between Britain and the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el Sheikh. In a joint appearance at No. 10 Downing Street with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Mr. Cameron said, “My role is to act in the right way to keep British citizens safe and secure.” He did not cite any specific intelligence that suggests a bomb had caused the crash, which killed all 224 people onboard.
Mr. Cameron said on Thursday that assuring the safety of British tourists was essential, and that it could take some time before all of them are home, according to the BBC, which quoted him as saying that it was “increasingly likely” a “terrorist bomb” was behind the crash. Mr. Sisi declined to criticize Mr. Cameron, but in Cairo, Egyptian officials did just that. Hossam Kamal, the Egyptian minister of civil aviation, said the suggestion of a bomb was not based on facts — and that there was as yet no evidence for that theory. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the British government had made the decision to halt flights unilaterally, without consulting Egypt.
Russian officials said on Thursday that no theory of what caused the plane crash could be discounted. “Naturally, all information is being accumulated and delivered to the chief of state,” the Interfax news agency quoted the Kremlin’s press secretary, Dmitri S. Peskov, as saying. “Not a single theory can be ruled out, but there are no grounds to declare at least one of these theories more or less reliable as of yet. This can be done only by investigators.” Earlier on Thursday, in a phone call with Mr. Cameron, Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, also took exception to his comments, saying that any “assessment of the causes of the crash should be based on the data” from the investigation, the Kremlin said in a statement.
While there has been much speculation about what brought down the jet, the cause largely remains a mystery. American military officials said this week that satellite surveillance had detected a flash of light as the plane was ripped apart, suggesting it had been blown up by a bomb, a mechanical failure or an accidental explosion of fuel. But counterterrorism officials have cautioned strongly against jumping to premature conclusions.
The British government estimated that it could take a week to fly the roughly 20,000 British citizens on the Sinai Peninsula back home. Two British airlines, Monarch and EasyJet, said that they would run flights to bring stranded tourists back to Britain, but that they had halted all outbound flights to the Red Sea resort.
Two subsidiaries of the German airline Lufthansa, the Düsseldorf-based Eurowings and Edelweiss Air, which operates out of Zurich, suspended their Sharm el Sheikh flights on Thursday. Lufthansa said the group was working out a plan to help passengers return home.
According to the Egyptian authorities, there were 23 flights operating to Sharm el Sheikh on Thursday from Russia; eight from Ukraine; three from Italy; two from Saudi Arabia; and one each from Belgium, Jordan and Turkey.
The British government has gone well beyond that of any other country — including that of the United States — in its public assessment of the crash. An insurgency affiliated with the Islamic State has been battling the Egyptian military on the peninsula, which is closed to visitors with the exception of Sharm el Sheikh.
Mr. Cameron acknowledged that “we need to see the results” of the Egyptian investigation, but he told the BBC: “The decisions that I’m taking are about putting the safety of British people first.”
Mr. Sisi, standing next to Mr. Cameron in London, acknowledged that Britain had previously raised safety concerns. “Ten months ago, we were asked by our British friends to send teams to Sharm el Sheikh airport to make sure that all our security procedures there were good enough, and to provide adequate safety and security for our passengers,” he said, adding that the Egyptian authorities were ready to address any outstanding concerns.
Russian officials said on Thursday that no theory of what had caused the crash could be discounted. “Naturally, all information is being accumulated and delivered to the chief of state,” the news agency Interfax quoted the Kremlin’s press secretary, Dmitri S. Peskov, as saying. “Not a single theory can be ruled out, but there are no grounds to declare at least one of these theories more or less reliable as of yet. This can be done only by investigators.”
Asked whether the theory that terrorism felled the plane might affect Russian policy in Syria, Mr. Peskov said, “Hypothetical presumptions of this kind are totally inappropriate.”Asked whether the theory that terrorism felled the plane might affect Russian policy in Syria, Mr. Peskov said, “Hypothetical presumptions of this kind are totally inappropriate.”
Alexander Neradko, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency in Russia, said investigators in Egypt looking into the crash would be examining the wreckage of the airplane, including the hand baggage and victims’ bodies to see if there were traces of explosive substances. “They will be studying aspects relating to a possible terrorist attack,” he said. Aleksandr Neradko, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency in Russia, said investigators in Egypt looking into the crash would be examining the wreckage of the airplane, including the hand baggage and victims’ bodies to see if there were traces of explosive substances. “They will be studying aspects relating to a possible terrorist attack,” he said.
He said a group of experts had already begun studying the transcripts of the plane’s flight recorder. He said a group of experts had already begun studying the contents of the plane’s flight data recorder.
Hossam Kamal, Egypt’s minister of civil aviation, said on Thursday that the suggestion that a bomb was aboard the aircraft was not based on facts, and that there was no evidence as of yet to confirm that theory.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the British decision to suspend flights had been taken unilaterally, without consulting Egypt. It said Egypt had responded to British security concerns by intensifying security measures at the Sharm el Sheikh airport.
But the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said the government had acted based on careful scrutiny of the facts available.But the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said the government had acted based on careful scrutiny of the facts available.
“We would have liked to have the luxury of a lot more time to think about it, look at it and discuss it, but we had British aircraft on the ground about to fly back to the U.K., and we had to take an immediate decision about what was in the best interests of the people on board,” the BBC quoted him as saying.“We would have liked to have the luxury of a lot more time to think about it, look at it and discuss it, but we had British aircraft on the ground about to fly back to the U.K., and we had to take an immediate decision about what was in the best interests of the people on board,” the BBC quoted him as saying.
Sixteen flights had been due to leave Sharm el Sheikh for Britain on Thursday, and they have been affected by the temporary flight ban, according to the British government.Sixteen flights had been due to leave Sharm el Sheikh for Britain on Thursday, and they have been affected by the temporary flight ban, according to the British government.
Mr. Hammond said that Britain planned to work with the Egyptians to introduce special short-term security measures, such as additional baggage screening and searching, to get flights running quickly in order to repatriate British tourists. But the British government would then want sustainable improvements in security there before flights would return to a normal pattern. Mr. Hammond said that London planned to work with Cairo to introduce special short-term security measures, such as additional baggage screening and searching, to get flights running quickly to repatriate British tourists. But he said the British government would then want sustainable improvements in security there before flights would return to a normal pattern.
“We will not resume normal flying activity until we are confident that there are long-term, sustainable arrangements in place that make flying between the U.K. and Sharm el Sheikh safe,” he added. “We will not resume normal flying activity until we are confident that there are long-term, sustainable arrangements in place that make flying between the U.K. and Sharm el Sheikh safe,” he said.
Concern about the safety of British tourists has been particularly acute in the aftermath of a June 26 attack on a beachfront hotel in Sousse, Tunisia, which left 38 foreigners dead, many of them Britons. Concern about the safety of British tourists has been particularly acute in the aftermath of a June 26 attack on a beachfront hotel in Sousse, Tunisia, which left 38 foreigners dead, 30 of them Britons.
The attack, during which an assailant targeted guests with a Kalashnikov rifle he had apparently hidden in a beach umbrella, shocked Britain while motivating the government’s resolve to try to assure the security of Britons, even in far-flung tourism spots. The death of 30 Britons prompted Mr. Cameron to consider asking Parliament to authorize airstrikes in Syria on the Islamic State, although he has not done so as of yet. The attack, in which an assailant targeted guests with a Kalashnikov rifle he had apparently hidden in a beach umbrella, shocked Britain and prompted Mr. Cameron to consider asking Parliament to authorize airstrikes in Syria on the Islamic State, although he has not done so as of yet.
But other countries, including Switzerland and Turkey, have continued their flights to Sharm el Sheikh. The civil aviation authority in Turkey said that there were no disruptions, and that both Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines were flying there directly. Also on Thursday, the first two funerals were held for victims of the Sinai crash. Nina Lushchenko, who ran a school canteen, was laid to rest after a traditional Orthodox service held in a 16th-century church in the town of Veliky Novgorod, 125 miles south of St. Petersburg.
According to the Egyptian authorities, there were 23 flights operating to Sharm el Sheikh on Thursday from Russia, eight from Ukraine, three from Italy, two from Saudi Arabia, and one each from Belgium, Jordan and Turkey.
In a sign of how the crash has galvanized Britain, Mr. Cameron was expected to lead a so-called Cobra meeting on Thursday, during which crucial officials meet to discuss how to respond to internal or external crises with major consequences for the country. He was also expected to speak to the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, to discuss the security situation.
While there has been much speculation on what caused the crash, the cause largely remains a mystery. American military officials said this week that satellite surveillance had detected a flash of light as the jet was ripped apart, suggesting it had been blown up by a bomb, a mechanical failure or an accidental explosion of fuel. But counterterrorism officials have cautioned strongly against jumping to premature conclusions.
Also on Thursday, the first two funerals were held for crash victims. Nina Lushchenko, who ran the canteen at a local school, was laid to rest after a traditional Orthodox service held in a 16th-century church in the ancient town of Veliky Novgorod, 125 miles south of St. Petersburg.
Mrs. Lushchenko, 60, went to Egypt with Lyudmila Gomechko, one of the canteen’s cooks, whose body is among the scores yet to be identified.Mrs. Lushchenko, 60, went to Egypt with Lyudmila Gomechko, one of the canteen’s cooks, whose body is among the scores yet to be identified.
Another funeral took place in St. Petersburg, where Alexei Alexeev, 31, was buried. Mr. Alexeev was awarded the trip to Egypt by his employer, whose head apologized for the decision at the funeral, according to local news reports, which did not identify the company. Another funeral took place in St. Petersburg, where Aleksei Alekseev, 31, was buried. Mr. Alekseev was awarded the trip to Egypt by his employer, whose chief apologized for the decision at the funeral, according to local news reports, which did not identify the company.