Egypt police hunting bombers kill three

EL-ARISH, Egypt, Apr 30 (Reuters) Egyptian police today shot dead three men suspected of belonging to a group of Sinai Bedouin who killed 18 people in the Red Sea resort of Dahab last week, police sources said.

A police patrol came across two of the men in the Mount Hilal area of northeastern Sinai. The men threw two hand grenades at them but the grenades did not explode, they said.

Police opened fire in response and killed them both.

In a separate incident, police killed another suspected member of the group in a gunbattle in the Mount Maghara area to the west.

Police captured four suspects and were pursuing others hiding in a mountainous area of northern Sinai some 270 km from Dahab, the police sources said.

The Egyptian government has blamed the mysterious group of Sinai Bedouin, which had its origins in the Mediterranean town of El Arish, for four other bombings at resorts on the Sinai coast and in northern Sinai over the past four years.

Two men blew themselves up on Wednesday in separate attacks on a multinational peace force and a police station in northern Sinai.

Shortly after the Dahab blasts last Monday police said they had formally detained at least 10 people and taken in about 70 local Bedouin for questioning.

REUTERS DKS RK0240