Russian officials have halted all flights to Egypt indefinitely following last weekend’s downing of a Russian Metrojet airliner, which killed all 224 people abroad. There is increasing evidence, according to those familiar with the situation, that ISIS was indeed responsible for the incident.
The latest reports on the incident include comments from British intelligence agencies suggesting that the bomb that caused the crash was planted on board ahead of takeoff, likely by an employee at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport. A “heat flash” was detected, likely an explosion, and the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
Russian and Egyptian officials were initially very suspicious of the ISIS claim of responsibility, and ISIS has offered virtually no details on the attack, which led many to initially conclude they were just claiming credit for an accident. Intelligence has since suggested that was not the case, however, and US and British intelligence have since intercepted internal ISIS communications suggesting it was a plot.
Egypt, whose economy heavily depends on tourism, has loudly denied ISIS involvement in the crash, and has railed against nations that have suspended flights to Sinai. Junta leader Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has rejected the need for improved security at Sharm el-Sheikh, insisting the airport is perfectly safe.
Seem to recall Obama naming Israel as the source of intelligence on Ghouta. He's probably learned to shut up since then…
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A Trojan was a special communication device that could be planted by naval commandos deep inside enemy territory. The device would act as a relay station for misleading transmissions made by the disinformation unit in the Mossad, called LAP, and intended to be received by American and British listening stations. Originating from an IDF navy ship out at sea, the prerecorded digital transmissions could be picked up only by the Trojan. The device would then rebroadcast the transmission on another frequency, one used for official business in the enemy country, at which point the transmission would finally be picked up by American ears in Britain.
The listeners would have no doubt they had intercepted a genuine communication, hence the name Trojan, reminiscent of the mythical Trojan horse. Further, the content of the messages, once deciphered, would confirm information from other intelligence sources, namely the Mossad. The only catch was that the Trojan itself would have to be located as close as possible to the normal origin of such transmissions, because of the sophisticated methods of triangulation the Americans and others would use to verify the source.
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By the end of March, the Americans were already intercepting messages broadcast by the Trojan, which was only activated during heavy communication traffic hours. Using the Trojan, the Mossad tried to make it appear that a long series of terrorist orders were being transmitted to various Libyan embassies around the world (or, as they were called by the Libyans, Peoples' Bureaus). As the Mossad had hoped, the transmissions were deciphered by the Americans and construed as ample proof that the Libyans were active sponsors of terrorism. What's more, the Americans pointed out, Mossad reports confirmed it.
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What will they be 'confirming' now?
All very well, but how does this help Putin? Either he shoots himself in the foot by admitting he can do nothing or he shoots himself in the other foot by plunging even deeper into the Syrian quagmire.
The baggage handlers are the only people who have access to the hold of the aircraft after passengers' luggage and any freight, which would be very unusual on a package holiday charter, has gone through the security check. Many years ago, some airports, Heathrow, for example, required passengers to identify their luggage as they boarded. The luggage was lined up on the apron as the passengers arrived and they had to take their luggage and put it on the luggage trolley. Any baggage left on the ground wasn't loaded. That avoided the "one case too many" situation but the problem was, of course, that it lengthened to boarding process.
So now you're an expert on the baggage handling and security practices of Russian airlines operating out of Egyptian airports?