Russia sees possible 'terror' link in Egypt plane crash

Moscow acknowledged Nov. 9 for the first time a terrorist attack could have caused the Oct. 31 Russian plane crash in Egypt, as thousands more tourists were evacuated from the country.

"The possibility of an act of terror is of course there as the reason for what happened," Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev admitted in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta state newspaper.
 
Britain and the United States, as well as international investigators, suspect a bomb exploded on board the Metrojet A-321 plane, but Egyptian officials insist there is no evidence yet of an attack on the aircraft which jihadists claim to have downed.
 
Russia had also refrained from blaming the crash, which killed all 224 people on board, on terrorists, although President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 6 suspended all flights to Egypt.
 
Israel, which has strong intelligence links to the neighbouring Sinai where the Airbus came down while en route from Egypt's resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg, also sided with the attack theory.
 
"There is a strong probability that this is an attack," Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon told Israeli reporters on Nov. 9.
 
"From what we know and what we understand, I would be surprised if it turns out that it was not an attack."  
And the head of Airbus said no technical fault has yet been detected for the crash of the A-321.
 
"I can say that so far, what we got from the investigation didn't trigger any action, technical action on our side, regarding the A-321 fleet," said Fabrice Bregier, the European manufacturer's chief executive officer.
 
"But we need to wait for the conclusion of the investigations," Bregier said at the Dubai Airshow.
         
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