Thursday, September 5, 2013
Egypt's Minister Mohammed Ibrahim survives bomb attack
Egypt's Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim
has survived a bomb attack that targeted his
convoy in Cairo.
Hours later, he appeared unharmed on state TV to
denounce the attack as a "cowardly assassination
bid".
Security guards and a child were among the injured
in the attack, which took place near his home in Nasr
City.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Muslim Brotherhood leader Amr Darrag said the
group "strongly condemned" what happened.
Mr Ibrahim heads the police force which has carried
out a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protests in
recent weeks.
Nasr City is a stronghold of the Islamist Muslim
Brotherhood group.
'Foiled assassination bid'
The explosion took place at about 10:30 local time
(08:30 GMT) as Mr Ibrahim was being driven from his
home to work.
The minister told state television that his convoy was
targeted by a "large" explosive device that might
have been detonated by remote control.
"It destroyed four of the vehicles of my protection
team, with many shops in the area badly affected
along with a vehicle of civilians and a small child who
had a leg amputated," he said.
"I have an officer with serious injuries and another
officer with a leg amputation. There were many
injuries amongst my guards."
State media said at least eight people had been
injured.
The blast occurred at 10:30 local time, just after
Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim had left his
home in Nasr City for the office.
Mr Ibrahim said his convoy was hit, and a number of
his guards and civilians - including a child - were
injured.
Mr Ibrahim heads the police force that has clashed
with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in recent
weeks.
Nasr City is a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood,
but a senior figure in the group strongly condemned
Thursday's attack.
Mr Ibrahim is the first high-ranking official to be
targeted in this way in the two months of violence
since the army ousted Islamist President Mohammed
Morsi.
There were conflicting reports over the source of the
explosion, with state-run Mena news agency saying a
booby-trapped car had detonated as the minister's
convoy passed by.
State TV, however, said an explosive device was
thrown at the convoy from the top of a nearby
building just after it left his place of residence.
Pictures uploaded to the internet by witnesses
showed substantial damage to a building next to the
blast.
One passer-by said the explosion could be "heard
from afar".
"As you can see, cars from the minister's convoy
were destroyed and his security people took him to
an armoured vehicle that transported him back to his
house," he said.
The Egyptian interior ministry said an attempt to
assassinate the interior minister by "terrorist groups"
had been foiled, adding that his guards had
confronted and killed two of the attackers.
"We are back to the terrorism of the 1980s," a
ministry statement read. An investigation team has
moved to the scene of the incident, it added.
Hundreds of arrests
This is the first attack targeting such a high-ranking
government official as Egypt remains in turmoil over
a showdown between the military-backed
government and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The police force, alongside security forces, carried out
a deadly security crackdown in the capital last
month, clearing two protest camps set up by Muslim
Brotherhood supporters of ousted President
Mohammed Morsi.
They had rallied for six weeks demanding the
reinstatement of Mr Morsi, who was deposed by the
military two months ago following anti-government
protests by millions of Egyptians.
Nasr City was the site of the larger of the two protest
camps based outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque,
which was dismantled in the security operation that
killed hundreds of Brotherhood supporters on 14
August.
The BBC's Bethany Bell says there has been a lot of
Muslim Brotherhood activity in the area over the last
couple of weeks.
Since the security clampdown, hundreds of
Brotherhood supporters have been detained,
including the group's most senior leader, Mohammed
Badie, and his deputy, Khairat al-Shatir.
Mr Morsi is currently being held in a secret location
awaiting trial on charges of inciting murder during
anti-government protests that occurred in December 2012.
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