EGYPT: EXPLOSION IN GIZA

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 005695

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2015
TAGS: PTER CASC ASEC EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: EXPLOSION IN GIZA

Classified by Charge Stuart E. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: An Egyptian hospital clerk, Sami Gamal Ahmed
Hegazy, was wounded on July 24 in an explosion in his Giza
apartment. The Cairo rumor mill immediately suggested the
incident was a botched terror attack, but an Egyptian
security official suggested it was simply an industrial
mishap involving a scrap metal collector. We still do not
know the exact cause of the explosion and contrary to some
media reports, there is currently no information that Hegazy
was constructing a bomb with the intent to target foreigners.
The Embassy is continuing to press security contacts for
more details on their investigation of the incident. End
Summary.


2. (C) On the afternoon of July 24, Egyptian Sami Gamal Ahmed
Hegazy, a 33 year old administrative clerk at Cairo's Kasr
al-Ayni Hospital, was wounded in an explosion in his
apartment in Giza, the urban district on the west bank of the
Nile next to Cairo. Police sources report that Hegazy is
hospitalized with multiple shrapnel wounds to the side of his
body and head.


3. (C) A GOE Security Contact asserted to LEGATT that Hegazy
was "not connected to extremist groups" and was "a collector
of metallic remains" (which we interpret to mean scrap
metal). The contact said that investigators did not detect
any explosives in the apartment, and could not offer any
explanation beyond suggesting that it was some sort of
industrial mishap. When LEGATT pressed as to how scrap metal
would spontaneously explode, the contact stuck close to his
talking points, implying that Hegazy might have come across
sort of unexploded munitions in his metal collecting.


4. (C) The Cairo rumor mill, already running at full speed
because of the Sharm el Sheikh bombings and fed by breathless
reporting from Arabic satellite news services, characterized
the incident as a failed suicide bombing on the Kerdasa
handicrafts market, regularly visited by foreign tourists.
Other rumors held that the explosion took place in a scrap
metal yard rather than a private home. An Embassy Cairo LES
investigator visited the site and confirmed in conversations
with neighbors that an explosion occurred on the top floor of
an apartment building.


5. (C) Comment: In the current atmosphere of rumor there is
considerable skepticism over the GOE explanation. It is
possible that our security contacts have not been forthcoming
and may have more information than they are sharing. If
indeed Hegazy was building a bomb, in the wake of the Sharm
attacks, this information could be further damaging to the
tourism industry and the government's standing. That said,
to date, we have no information to counter the GOE version.
The Embassy will continue to press GOE security contacts for
more details on their investigation of the incident. End
comment.


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JONES