Egypt’s Sisi, for first time, says Russian plane was brought down by terrorists ...

Reuters
February 25, 2016

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that the Russian plane that crashed in Sinai last year was downed by terrorists seeking to damage Egypt’s tourism industry and relations with Moscow.

“Has terrorism ended? No it has not, but it will if we unite,” said Sisi in a televised speech. “Whoever downed the Russian plane, what did he mean? He meant to hit tourism, and to hit relations with Russia.”

The comments were the first official Egyptian indication that the plane was deliberately downed in a terrorist attack.

Moscow stopped all civilian flights to Egypt, a popular destination for Russian tourists, after a Russian airplane crashed in Sinai on October 31 killing all 224 people on board.

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