“The President has also instructed to provide assistance to Russian citizens to return from Egypt. In addition, the President has instructed to engage with the Egyptian side to ensure the safety of air traffic”, the Kremlin said.
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If, as both United Kingdom and USA intelligence now strongly suspect, an IS bomb did cause the A321 Airbus to crash, killing 224 people, it would be extremely damaging for President Putin, who recently committed Russian forces to combat operations against IS in Syria.
An affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the tragedy – the deadliest civil aviation disaster in Russian history. Nearly everyone aboard was Russian.
Egypt is a popular tourist destination for many Russians, and it was the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that many Russian tourists were leaving last Saturday when Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed shortly after takeoff.
The Obama administration is reviewing “a number of different steps” to enhance security for flights bound for the United States from “certain foreign airports”, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday.
“They did a semi-pat down inside and we took our shoes off. I don’t think it was very thorough”.
Egypt’s Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal said in a written statement seen by Anadolu Agency that more than one-third of the airport’s 74 flight departures on Friday would be to the United Kingdom.
An Egyptian source close to the investigation of the Russian plane’s black boxes said on Wednesday the cause of the crash was believed to be an explosion, but it was not clear whether that was the result of a bomb.
Britain’s attempt to bring back a few 20,000 stranded holidaymakers descended into chaos on Friday when only eight of 29 scheduled flights took off from Sharm el-Sheikh.
The fate of Egypt’s tourist industry, a vital source of hard currency for a struggling economy, is at stake as well as the credibility of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s claims to have brought under control the militants fighting to topple his government.
“European countries did not give the cooperation we are hoping for”, Shoukry said at a news conference, according to the AP.
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Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said information obtained by United Kingdom officials indicated there was a “high probability” that the aircraft was brought down by an explosive device, though he said he was still waiting for final confirmation.
