Jordan Times
Sunday, July 24, 2005
King strongly condemns
carnage in Sharm El Sheikh
Agencies
HIS MAJESTY KING Abdullah on Saturday joined the
rest of the world in condemning the "barbaric" bomb attacks in Sharm El Sheikh
and vowing no let-up in the fight against terrorism.
King Abdullah sent a cable to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, reiterating
Amman's support for Cairo "under the current difficult circumstances," the
Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Also, Prime Minister Adnan Badran telephoned his Egyptian counterpart Ahmad
Nazif, while Deputy Premier and Government Spokesman Marwan Muasher issued a
statement condemning the attack.
From Washington to Tokyo and from London to Addis Ababa, expressions of outrage
at the "evil" bombers flooded in after the Egyptian attacks, which left at least
88 people dead including foreign tourists.
US President George W. Bush "condemns in the strongest possible terms the
barbaric terrorist attacks in Sharm El Sheikh," said a White House statement,
calling the blasts an "assault on the civilised world."
The near-simultaneous bombings early Saturday struck at the heart of the
Egyptian resort, which as well as a top tourist resort is also regularly used
for high-level summits and international conferences.
Within hours UN chief Kofi Annan expressed his "sorrow and anger" at the
bombings, which were claimed by an Al Qaeda linked group and which follow blasts
in London this month which left over 50 dead.
"Once again, in this tragic month, he condemns the use of terror and
indiscriminate violence against civilians, which no cause or belief can possibly
justify," said a UN spokesman.
In Europe, from where tens of thousands tourists travel to Egypt, the attacks
only added to a sense of crisis triggered by the July 7 London bombings and
follow-up attacks this week.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he could not rule out links to the
London attacks. "Almost certainly they are evil people who will claim wrongly to
have done this in the name of Islam," he said.
In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac stressed the world's "absolute
determination to fight this scourge," while German Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer denounced the "blind and fanatical hatred" of the terrorists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on countries which have suffered such
attacks to stand united against terrorism, saying that could be the only
response to "this barbaric threat."
In Rome Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called the attacks "tragic,"
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said they were "barbaric,"
while EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso described them as "cowardly."
Pope Benedict XVI said he was deeply saddened by these "senseless acts."
In Asia — which has been under the spectre of terrorism since the October 2002
Bali bombings — the story was the same. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf,
whose country has come under pressure to clamp down on militants following the
London blasts, voiced his "determination to fight terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations."
In Toyko, a foreign ministry official said the Japanese government was "gravely
shocked" by the attacks, while Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
condemned the Egyptian bombings but warned that such attacks would continue
unless the root causes of terrorism were understood.
"We just can't get these people to stop. They'll keep on doing it. We can
condemn, we can say all we like, but we must be ready to sit down and to talk
and discuss why this is happening," he said.
In Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao condemned the bombings, adding: "The
Chinese government is firmly against any sort of terrorism and will join hands
with the international community ... in the fight against terrorism."
In Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said the bombers
had nothing to do with the Islamic faith. "We should identify them as (the)
enemy of Islam," he said.
In Addis Ababa, the African Union condemned the attacks on a resort "known by
all to be a symbol of peace and dialogue."
Closer to Egypt itself, Israel offered to send army rescue teams to the Red Sea
resort on the tip of the Sinai peninsula to help emergency crews deal with the
carnage, which it described as "inhuman acts of terrorism."
The Turkish foreign ministry called the attacks "abominable.” Iran — long
criticised by the United States in particular for sponsoring terrorism — said it
firmly condemned the bombings but called on the United States to change tack in
its "war on terror."
"We appeal to Western countries not to impose restrictions on Muslims as these
attacks have nothing to do with Muslims and placing restrictions on Muslims is
the best way of helping the terrorists," said the foreign ministry.
Even bomb-weary Iraq condemned the bombings. "We wish the Egyptian armed forces
success in fighting the cancer of terrorism which threatens the peace of the
entire world," said Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari in Baghdad. Syria swiftly
condemned the carnage on the Red Sea coast which threatened to deal a heavy blow
to the vital tourism industry of the Arab world's most populous nation.
"A shocked Syria condemns this terrorist act and pledges its support for every
effort aimed at eradicating this scourge," the state SANA news agency quoted an
unnamed official as saying.
Saudi King Fahd, Crown Prince Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz and Defense Minister
Prince Sultan Ben Abdul Aziz sent messages of condolences to Mubarak in which
they expressed their "condemnation of this criminal act," the state SPA agency
reported.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Ahmad Sabah condemned bombings which he said
"contravene all human values," while in a letter to Mubarak, UAE President
Sheikh Kahlifa Ben Zayed Nahayan presented his condolences and condemned the
"evil terrorist acts which killed a great number of innocent people."
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement "strongly condemning" the
attack. "I express from the bottom of my heart our support for our Egyptian
brothers and to President Mubarak in their fight against terrorism," he said. A
senior official from Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which earlier this month
carried out a suicide bombing in Israel in which five died, also condemned the
blasts.
"We condemn these explosions with all the more strength as they killed mainly
Arabs and Muslims," he told AFP, requesting anonymity.
"These attacks damage our cause and distract attention from the struggle for
Palestine."