Egypt detains two in bomb attack investigations

CAIRO, Apr 29 (Reuters) Egyptian police have detained two men they said drove people suspected of involvement in bomb attacks in the resort of Dahab and north Sinai, the state MENA news agency reported.

In a report published late yesterday, MENA quoted security forces as saying they were questioning two drivers whose passengers could have been involved in the blasts.

Bomb attacks killed 18 people in Dahab on Monday, and on Wednesday two bombers died after blowing themselves up in attacks on a multinational peace force and an Egyptian police station both based in north Sinai.

Security forces said one of the detained drivers had picked up three Bedouin from central Sinai on the eve of the Dahab attacks and had driven them to the resort.

Police said the other driver, a Palestinian living in north Sinai, had driven a bomb suspect close to an airport used by the Multinational Force and Observers, which monitors the border with Israel. Police said the driver's car had since vanished.

Shortly after the Dahab blasts police said they had formally detained at least 10 people and taken in about 70 local Bedouin for questioning. Egypt has since said the Dahab and north Sinai attacks could be linked.

Many security experts say a little-known Sinai-based group carried out two previous attacks on the east coast of Sinai in the past two years, killing 100 people -- one in the resort of Taba in October 2004 and the other at Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2005.

Egyptian authorities say the Sinai group was founded by a man of Palestinian origin who grew up in the north Sinai town of El Arish and adopted the views of militant Islamists.

REUTERS PG KN1437