Islamic group condemns Egypt bombs

There are no more survivors, rescuers say

The Islamic group responsible for most of the violence in Egypt in the 1990s has condemned the bomb attacks in the Sinai which targeted Israeli tourists.

Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya said the attacks had no religious legitimacy.

Egyptian police are questioning at least 12 Bedouin tribesmen on suspicion that they smuggled the explosives.

Israeli rescue workers are winding down their search for more survivors. At least 33 people died - Israelis, Egyptians, Russians, and Italians.

Egypt says 34 people were killed, including nine Egyptians. Israeli officials say DNA tests have so far confirmed that at least 11 Israelis and six Egyptians died.

The latest to be identified through DNA tests were two Italian sisters, Jessica and Sabrina Rinaudo.

The Hilton hotel in Taba, on Egypt's border with Israel, was hit by the biggest explosion, and two smaller blasts killed two people in Nuweiba.

'Unlawful under Islam'

Israel suspects al-Qaeda involvement in the attacks.

Egypt says it is too early to say, and it is focusing on identifying the cars used in the explosions as well as the explosives themselves.

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Egyptian security officials appear to believe that the Gamaa and other smaller groups active during the 1990s had no hand in the Taba bombings, says the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo.

The Islamist group said the Taba bombing had resulted in the death of Muslims, as well as women and children, and that that was unlawful under Islam.

The Gamaa al-Islamiya declared a truce in 1998 after the security forces had largely destroyed it. Its last operation was the killing in Luxor in 1997 of 58 European tourists.

The Taba blasts were the first major attack on Egyptian soil since the Luxor massacre.

Lax security

The Hilton was almost full, with 900 guests - more than half of them Israelis and some 250 Russians - staying there when the bombers struck.

The other two bombings were in a campsite at Ras al-Shitan, an area that is popular with young Israeli backpackers.

Israel has now told its citizens to leave Egypt, and the US and Germany have warned their citizens against travelling in the Sinai peninsula.

Security on the Sinai coast has remained relatively lax because Israelis see this zone as an extension of their homeland.

Taba is the main crossing point between Israel and Egypt, and a major gateway for thousands of Israelis going on holiday to resorts and hotels on the Red Sea.