IS AL-QAEDA IN SINAI?

ONE MONTH AFTER Israel warned its citizens to stay out of Egypt, citing a “concrete” terrorism threat with the Sinai Peninsula as a possible target, suicide bombers last week shredded a five-star Sinai hotel and another resort, which were packed with Israelis at the end of a Jewish holiday. Even more ominous, Israeli officials and Arab analysts suspect that the attacks may have marked the debut in the region of a dangerous new enemy: al-Qaeda. As Palestinian groups denied responsibility for the bombings, Israeli Chief of Army Intelligence Aharon Zeevi-Farkash reportedly told Israel’s Cabinet that the most likely suspect was al-Qaeda, with help from the banned but tolerated group Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Brotherhood spokesman Essam Eryan vigorously denied the charge, saying the group has “huge” differences with al-Qaeda and has publicly condemned the Sinai attacks. Taha Abdel Alim, a spokesman for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s government, told TIME the government believes the brotherhood was “not involved.” Egyptian officials detained several dozen Bedouin on suspicion of providing explosives for the attacks but declined to speculate any further about the culprits.

Such synchronized attacks are a common al-Qaeda tactic, Israeli intelligence sources point out. And five days before the attacks, al-Jazeera aired a new tape of al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Egyptian native Ayman al-Zawahiri, calling for Muslims to support the Palestinian uprising by attacking Israel and the U.S. Mohammed Salah, an Egyptian expert on Islamic groups, notes that the Sinai operation targeted a number of key interests of al-Qaeda’s sworn enemies: the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Egypt’s promotion of a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement and the security of Israel and Egypt, Washington’s two key allies in the region. Says Salah: “This attack is one that aimed to kill 10 birds with one stone.” –By Scott MacLeod. With reporting by Amany Radwan, Jamil Hamad and Aharon Klein