CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian police said on Monday they have arrested three suspects over a bomb attack at a famed Cairo bazaar that killed a French teenager and wounded 25 people, most of them tourists.
Sunday's attack was the first deadly violence since 2006 against Westerners in Egypt, where the tourism industry is a vital foreign currency earner.
The bomb blast ripped through a square lined with cafes and restaurants in Khan al-Khalili, a market dating from the 14th century that is one of the Egyptian capital's main tourist attractions.
"Three people there were arrested on the scene as suspects after the attack," a police official said. "Around 15 others are being questioned as witnesses."
There has been no claim of responsibility but analysts said the attack could have been the work of an isolated Islamist cell.
"This act highlights social and political unease but appears to be the work of an individual or a group acting in isolation," said Amr Shubaki, a researcher at the Al-Ahram centre of strategic studies.
However, General Fuad Allam, former head of the state security service, warned the attack could herald "a new wave of terrorism in Egypt," spurred by the global financial crisis and the region's problems.
