Taba Hilton in Egypt

No credible claims of responsibility emerged immediately, although suspicion for the clearly coordinated car and suicide bomb attacks fell quickly on al-Qaeda-inspired militants.

The most devastating of the strikes was at the Taba Hilton next to the border with Israel, where a car laden with explosives crashed into the lobby of the hotel and detonated.

The hotel was built by Israel when it controlled Taba from 1967 to 1989.

The attack was followed by two smaller blasts in the area of Ras Shitan, a camping area near the town of Nuweiba south of Taba, witnesses said.

As many as 10,000 Israelis were thought to be in Sinai, a popular budget destination close to home, for the ending of the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot despite official warnings they might be targeted by Islamic militants.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 16, 2004
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