Joseph P Farrell – he news is, of course, the crash of the Russian metrojet airliner in the Sinai, but already there are subtly diverging stories between Russia and the West.
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UK govt: ‘Significant possibility’ bomb may have downed Russian passenger jet over Sinai
The UK says it has concluded that the Russian A321 jet that crashed over Egypt’s Sinai on Saturday was likely brought down by an “explosive device.” The British government decided at a crisis meeting to ground all UK passenger flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh.
“We have concluded that there is a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive device on board the aircraft… We are now advising against all but essential travel by air through Sharm el-Sheikh airport. That means that there will be no UK passenger flights out to Sharm el-Sheikh from now,” Philip Hammond, the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, told reporters after a meeting of a crisis response committee chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron.
LIVE UPDATES on the Russian passenger jet crash: Search area in Sinai expanded
An updated statement from Cameron’s office said that all flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh have been suspended “with immediate effect.”
“We have consular staff at the airport who are working with the operators to ensure that all those passengers who were due to leave this evening are being looked after and taken to hotels,” the statement assured. It added that the government will “work urgently with the airlines and the Egyptian authorities with the aim of getting some flights up and running as soon as possible so that we can get people already in Sharm el-Sheikh… back safely to the UK as soon as possible.”
There will be no flights returning from Sharm el-Sheikh tomorrow, as the measures will “take time,” it warned.
Earlier, all flights from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort to the UK had been delayed as a “precautionary measure,” the joint statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Department for Transport and Foreign & Commonwealth Office said.
A team of UK aviation experts was ordered to assess the security situation in the resort from where the Russian-operated Airbus 321 departed Saturday.
The Irish Aviation Authority has directed the country’s airlines to suspend operations to and from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport as well. The world’s largest charter airline, Thomson Airways, which flies from the UK and Ireland, has also temporarily suspended its flights to and from the Egyptian resort destination with immediate effect. Continue reading . . .
SF Source Joseph Farrell
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