Egypt says catches Palestinian with suicide belt

[oberliner]

ISMAILIA, Egypt, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A Palestinian man wearing a suicide belt who planned to attack Israeli tourists has been caught after entering Egypt through a tunnel on the Gaza border, Egyptian police sources said on Wednesday.

"Under questioning he said that he intended to travel to south Sinai to carry out a suicide bombing at one of the villages or resorts frequented by large numbers of Israelis," one of the sources, who asked not to be named, said.

The arrest on the Egyptian side of the border town of Rafah on Tuesday led police to two Palestinian accomplices who had rented a flat in the town, the sources said.

Another 20 Palestinians and Egyptians, including Sinai Bedouin, were detained after further investigations.

Bombers have attacked south Sinai resorts three times in the past 2-1/2 years. Egyptian police have attributed the attacks to a group of Islamists who are from the Sinai Bedouin community and sympathetic toward the Palestinians.

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L21127513