Britain suspends flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, Cairo surprised – RIA Novosti

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MOSCOW, November 5 – RIA Novosti. After the decision of London to suspend all flights from Sharm el-Sheikh for additional verification of safety, the British authorities on Thursday announced that they are going to the end of the week to evacuate their citizens from the popular Egyptian resort. The reason for this decision was the fear of London that the Russian airliner A321 crashed because of an explosive device on board.

On the eve of the British government issued a statement that according to their sources caused the crash of the Russian A321 aircraft over Sinai It could become an explosive device on board. Following the statements, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that suspends all flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, and also does not give permission to take off the sides there, while experts do not conduct additional security checks. Later, the Foreign Office recommended the British not to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh without having.

Earlier, a source in the Russian technical commission investigating the crash, cautioned against premature conclusions about the causes of the crash. He noted that regularly appear in the media the conclusions on the causes of the disaster made before the end of the formal investigation, it is extremely difficult to work the official technical commission.

President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the decision of the UK authorities on the flight to Egypt – it is the sovereign right of the country, but he reiterated that the advance version of the plane crash in Egypt – it is the prerogative of the investigation, all the rest – unverified information or speculation.

Brits evacuate

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that all necessary safety measures at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh and British planes awaiting departure out will be taken on Friday. After that, the tourists from the United Kingdom will return home.

“All the actions of a temporary strengthening of security measures in connection with an emergency situation will be completed tomorrow,” – Hammond said the TV channel SkyNews.

According to Hammond, the British Foreign Office said that the disaster A321 could be a terrorist group “Islamic State”.

“LIH claimed responsibility for the catastrophe of the Russian aircraft immediately after it. We looked at the information picture as a whole, including this information, but also to other segments of the information, of course, too, and came to the conclusion that there is a serious likelihood “- said Hammond.

Once the tragic crash of the Russian airliner over the Sinai last week, the Internet began to spread allegations that the disaster could have occurred as a result of the terrorist attack, responsibility for which is assumed the militants from the IG. However, reports that the plane may have been hit by a missile from the ground were refuted by the Egyptian authorities: as stated by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi such statements only adversely affect the security of the country, with the radicals of the IG did not possess weapons that can shoot down aircraft at such a height. The Federal Air Transport Agency said that the investigation into the disaster has just begun and statements about the crash due to external impacts are not based on facts.

Egypt surprised

In Egypt, were sympathetic to the decision of the authorities in Britain about suspension of operations, although stressed that delays flights from Sharm el-Sheikh before the arrival of British security experts were premature, and such actions are surprising.

“Egypt understands the concerns of Britain, which was the reason this preventive solutions. However, the Egyptian government has spared no effort to ensure the safety of tourists on its territory, take all necessary measures, “- said the Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry.

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По Shukri said, this decision is premature in London, as it adopted until the results of the investigation, “which is carried out transparently and with the participation of international experts.” “The Egyptian government will announce the results of the investigation, decrypt data” black boxes “as they will be received, so you should not make premature conclusions until the completion of this process” – he said the Egyptian minister.

To advance version is too early

President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov Commenting on the London decision said that the cancellation of flights to Sharm el-Sheikh – the sovereign right of the country, however, has reason to nominate at least one version of the Russian airliner crash as more or less accurate there.

“Of course, all information is accumulated and reported to the head of state. Now you can not exclude any version, but at the same time, there is no reason to sound at least one version of a more or less reliable, “- said Peskov journalists.

Peskov said that Moscow previously said and repeated again “some versions of the incident and the cause of the incident may make only a consequence.” “From the investigation so far no applications we have not heard. Any other such assumptions are in the nature, so to speak, unverified information or some speculation, “- said Peskov.

” If there are any more serious data, we certainly hope that they Whoever had these data will be made available to the investigation, “- he added.

The reason – in geopolitics

In Moscow, at the same time, quite skeptical about the government’s decision of Great Britain to suspend flights . According to the chairman of the international committee of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, the move of the Foreign Office is largely dictated by geopolitical resistance to Russia’s actions in Syria. Kosachev believes that other countries are unlikely to follow the example of London.

“There is a geo-political resistance actions Russia in Syria. As it is blasphemous sounds, the world has enough of those who would prefer this disaster obviously, without proper justification to cancel the response of jihadists against Russia “, – Kosachev said on Thursday.

The senator stressed that Russia “will take such decisions (the termination of flights to Egypt), if it appear reasonable grounds”.

“But as far as I know, the Russian investigation as long as there is no reason to make such far-reaching conclusions. What I see – I’m not allowed directly to the investigation, but what I see in the media, such radical conclusions do not allow “, – he said.

Kosachev pointed out that the situation surrounding the crash of the Russian airplane ambiguous and yet does not allow to “dismiss the threshold any version” of what happened.

“Therefore, an element of psychological pressure in the decision of Great Britain to suspend operations there, though not the only one,” – added he is.

The Netherlands also suspend flights

Following the decision of London to suspend flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken similar measures. All flights Dutch airlines in Sharm el-Sheikh and from will be suspended. Dutch Foreign Ministry has also decided to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula, at least until Sunday.

The Dutch government advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to Sharm el-Sheikh until further notice. The Dutch, already there are advised to contact a travel agency. According to the Foreign Ministry, at the moment in the city recorded 408 Dutch citizens.

As the Dutch edition NL Times, the country awaits the outcome of the investigation of the British security conditions. The British authorities consider that there is a “strong likelihood” that the cause of the disaster of the Russian aircraft A321 was an explosive device. In this regard, the British government banned airlines fly to Sharm el-Sheikh and changed recommendation on trips to Egypt, advising to refrain from any trips to Sharm el-Sheikh.