Russia has ordered the suspension of all flights to Egypt following indications that the crash near Sharm el-Sheikh was caused by a bomb.<\/p>\n
President Vladimir Putin has also asked for up to 50,000 Russian holiday-makers currently in Egypt to be brought home.<\/p>\n
The UK has suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and is bringing Britons home.
\nThe move comes after intercepted “chatter” suggesting a bomb was put in the plane’s hold prior to take-off, killing all 224 people on board.<\/p>\n
The Metrojet Airbus A321 was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg when it came down in Sinai on Saturday. Most of the victims were Russian.<\/p>\n
Militants from the Sinai Province group, linked to Islamic State, say they downed the plane, but not how. IS has called for a war against both Russia and the US over their air strikes in Syria.<\/p>\n
The BBC understands that UK officials received intelligence based on intercepted communications between militants in the Sinai Peninsula, indicating an explosive device may have been put inside or on top of the luggage just before the plane took off.<\/p>\n
An unnamed investigator has told French news agency AFP that the plane’s flight data recorder had shown that “everything was normal during the flight, absolutely normal, and suddenly there was nothing”, suggesting a “violent, sudden” explosion.<\/p>\n
Analysis: Steven Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow
\nThe Kremlin’s decision to suspend flights is bad news all around. First, for the Egyptian tourism industry.<\/p>\n
Egypt is one of the most popular destinations for Russian holidaymakers: more than two million have visited this year.<\/p>\n
It’s bad news for Russians currently in Egypt, and for those planning their annual holiday there.<\/p>\n
And it’s not good news for the Kremlin. Mr Putin’s decision “doesn’t mean that terror attack is now the main version”, his spokesman said. But it is the strongest indication yet that Moscow now believes a bomb may well have destroyed flight 9268. If it did, and it was linked to Russian airstrikes in Syria, that could damage Russian public support for Moscow’s military intervention.<\/p>\n
After all, domestically, the Kremlin had sold its military operation in Syria as a pre-emptive strike – as a way of destroying terrorists abroad before they attack Russians at home.<\/p>\n
The UK estimates that 19,000 of its nationals remain stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh.<\/p>\n
Since Wednesday, several countries have joined Britain in restricting travel to Sharm el-Sheikh. They include Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.<\/p>\n
The US has announced it is stepping up security screening of items on US-bound flights from some airports in the Middle East. The Homeland Security statement did not name which airports it was targeting.<\/p>\n
Tourism contributed more than 12% to Egypt’s economy in 2013 and the latest measures will hit it hard, analysts say. One in five foreign tourists in Egypt is Russian.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia has ordered the suspension of all flights to Egypt following indications that the crash near Sharm el-Sheikh was caused by a bomb. President Vladimir Putin has also asked for up to 50,000 Russian holiday-makers currently in Egypt to be brought home. The UK has suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and is bringing Britons home. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":165137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n