Egypt condemns conspiracy theories in Russian plane crash

Egyptian mainstream media have all rejected the theory that Islamic State militants planted a bomb on the Russian plane that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, condemning Britain and the United States for propagating this speculation.

While American and Western analysts are leaning towards the possibility that the Russian plane was bombed by the Islamic State (IS) in Egypt, Egyptian media said this was just a "conspiracy theory" to punish the country because Cairo is tending to get closer to Moscow, AFP reported today.

The scene of the Russian Airbus A321 crash in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Photo: Reuters.

The Egyptian daily Al-Ahram published a cartoon yesterday comparing the current situation in Sinai to a "triple invasion", Egypt's name for the 1956 war between Britain, France, Israel and Egypt after Cairo decided to nationalize the Suez Canal.

In the painting, an elderly man tells a young man standing next to him that "what is happening in Sinai reminds me of the 1956 Tripartite War". The young man, wearing a T-shirt that reads "I love Egypt", replies "our enemies have not changed in 60 years", referring to Britain, the United States and other Western countries.

Al Akhbar, an Egyptian government newspaper, said the theory that the Russian plane was bombed was a political and economic question that should be condemned. Accordingly, author Achmaoui Ashraf wrote "this is a blatant plot to punish Egypt economically because Egypt and Russia have had open military relations in recent times".

The private newspaper Al-Chorouq published a report condemning the British government's move to immediately repatriate its citizens who were traveling abroad, saying that this action was baseless, causing panic and seriously affecting Egypt's tourism industry.

Both state and private television channels in Egypt have shown that international tourists in Egypt are safe and happy. They do not suspect the possibility of terrorism.

Investigators say a report on the cause of the crash of a Russian Airbus A321 in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board, will take time to be released. Some experts believe that before an official report is released, the parties involved may cover up the cause of the disaster to protect their interests, especially Egypt, whose tourism industry is at risk of collapsing if the terrorism hypothesis is true.

According to VNE