The Russian airliner that crashed in Sinai in October 2015 was downed by terrorists to harm Egypt’s tourism industry and ties with Russia, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Sisi said Wednesday, Sputnik News reports.
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“Has terrorism ended? No”, Mr Sisi said in a televised speech. “They want to ruin tourism as well as our relations with Russia, Italy and with the whole world if he could, to isolate Egypt”, Sisi told the attendees. No. To hit relations.
Egyptian Military members approach a plane’s tail at the wreckage of a passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg in Russian Federation that crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday.
Terrorist activities killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army ousted former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi did not go into specifics in an address broadcast live Wednesday, saying only that he would “remove from the face of the Earth” anyone plotting to bring down the state. An affiliate of the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the incident.
The Airbus 321 operated by Russian airline Metrojet broke up in mid-air over the Sinai peninsula on 31 October.
The group said it bombed the plane in revenge for Russian air strikes in Syria.
“We will search for them anywhere they might hide”.
For his part, the UNWTO chief praised efforts exerted by Egypt to promote security and safety standards for tourists in the Egyptian airports and ports along with various tourist destinations.
Millions of tourists, mostly Britons and Russians, flock to Sharm el-Sheikh and other Egyptian resorts attracted by its beaches, warm weather and diving sites.
Egypt’s economic problems include a sharp decline in foreign investment and tourism revenues amidst years of social unrest.
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Tourism had never recovered after an 18-day uprising unseated veteran president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, setting off months of unrest.
