Sheets and blankets tied to the Hilton's balconies showed the frantic efforts by guests to flee. Stairs of a fire escape were twisted perpendicular to the building. Business cards, CDs, bottles and cans, and personal items were scattered around. Burned cars sat outside the hotel. There were varying reports on casualties. Israel Defence Forces Home Front commander Yair Naveh told Israeli radio that 28 people were confirmed dead. The Egyptian Interior Ministry said 22 died. An official at Taba hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 24 people were killed, including five Israelis, seven Egyptians and the rest foreigners whose nationalities were not immediately determined. Most of the deaths were at the Hilton. Israel radio reported 14 of the dead were Israelis. More than 100 people were injured, with one report saying as many as 160, and at least two Britons were among the wounded. The Russian Foreign Ministry said an elderly Russian woman was among the dead and eight Russians were wounded. "A few" Americans staying at the hotel were slightly injured, said John Berry, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Meir Frajun told of his frantic search for his three children, who were playing one floor below the lobby when the blast occurred. At first, he found only two. "Everything was filled with smoke," Frajun told the AP after crossing into the nearby Israeli resort of Eilat. "We were hysterically looking for the child. In the end, we found him sitting outside with an Arab guest of the hotel." Amsalem Farrag, whose uncle and cousin own camps in Ras Shitan, said the two blasts there were only five seconds apart. He said the camps were full of vacationing Israelis. Egypt's tourism minister, Ahmed El Maghraby, indicated the attacks were political: "Look at the timing. Look at the choice of place." He didn't elaborate, but other officials drew links to the Israeli military operation against the Palestinians in the neighbouring Gaza Strip, where more than 80 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli offensive that began Sept. 29. Israel's deputy defence minister, Zeev Boim, told Israel's Army Radio that Palestinian militants apparently were not involved and he suspected al-Qaida affiliates: "On the face of things, this is different from what we are familiar with from Palestinian terrorist groups." Mushir al-Masri, a Gaza spokesman for the Hamas militant group, denied Hamas involvement but said the bombings were "an expected result" of Israeli operations against Palestinians. Three previously unknown groups claimed separately to have carried out the attacks. CP

Explosion at Indonesian embassy in Paris causes injuries

Photo: A police expert inspects the site where a small device exploded outside the Indonesian Embassy in Paris. (AP/Jacques Brion)

PARIS, France- A small bomb exploded outside the Indonesian Embassy in Paris on Friday, slightly wounding nine people, France's interior minister said. The bomb was in a package at the base of a flagpole. The explosion shattered windows and damaged several cars, and police set up barriers to block access to the area. French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said most of the wounded were hurt by flying glass. Rescue workers led several people from the scene, which was crowded with fire trucks and ambulances. The embassy is located in the exclusive 16th district of Paris. Indonesia is preparing to inaugurate a new leader after President Megawati Sukarnoputri was defeated in an election last month. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won a landslide victory in the Sept. 20 polls. The U.S.-educated retired army general was to be inaugurated on Oct. 20. The election was the first in which Indonesia's 210 million people voted for their president directly. The ballot was praised as a key step in the country's transition to democracy after the downfall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998.