SHARM EL-SHEIKH, July 24, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Egypt launched a massive manhunt Sunday, July 24, after the multiple bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh that killed 88 people.

National security forces started sweeping the Sinai peninsula, arresting close to Close to 100 suspects, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The attacks, including two suicide car bombs, struck a seafront hotel, a car park and a busy market area and turned the jewel of Egypt's tourism industry into a nightmare of blood and destruction.

Security sources said DNA samples on the remains of one of the suicide car bombers would be compared to that of jailed Taba suspects to establish whether they were related.

Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly said Saturday that security services already had leads on who carried out the attacks, highlighting a possible connection with Taba bombings that killed 34 people, including several Israelis, last October.

Meanwhile, forensic experts continued to identify the victims of the blasts that rocked the city, the country's flagship resort and second seat of power where President Hosni Mubarak spends much of his time.

Medics said some of the bodies were burnt or mangled beyond recognition and that the identification process could take some time, while also warning that the death toll could rise as many wounded were in critical condition.

"I've never seen so many eviscerated people and terrible wounds in my life," said Rabab, 19, a nurse at the international hospital in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The attacks were claimed by a group citing ties with Al-Qaeda in an online statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified.

The Egyptian envoy was shown talking about Israeli presence in Sinai.

No sooner had the blasts taken place than a videotape showing Egypt's envoy to Iraq, reportedly kidnapped and killed by an Al-Qaeda group, discussing the Israeli presence in Sinai was posted on the Internet.

"The peace agreement between Egypt and Israel divides Sinai into four parts," Ihab El-Sherif says in the undated recording.

"The last part ... is an area where Israelis and foreigners in Israel can enter without needing a visa," he says.

This area "stretches from Taba to Sharm El-Sheikh," adds the diplomat after a question about the location of the area showed on the screen.

"You can say it represents about 20 percent of Sinai," he notes.

A statement accompanying the videotape asked "those who need an evidence on the desecration of the Muslims land by the Jews, to listen attentively to the words of the Egyptian ambassador."

Sherif, 51, was kidnapped on July 2 in Baghdad and the group of Al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, claimed his killing five days later.

His body has not been found yet, a matter that nourishes family hopes he might be still alive.

Russian tourists queue inside the airport terminal just before leaving Sharm El-Sheikh. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, thousands of tourists continued to flee Sharm El-Sheikh Sunday, though others preferred to go ahead with their scheduled plans.

Groups of haggard tourists from Italy, Britain, Russia, the Gulf and other countries dragged their luggage through the night hours, scrambling to board the first outgoing buses.

More than 3,000 Italian tourists arrived back from Egypt since the bombings, Italian officials said.

Up to one million Italians visited Egypt last year, according to official estimates.

On the other hand, many tourists flow out for a holiday in Egypt late Saturday undeterred by the grisly bombings.

"Turkish holiday makers have not been greatly affected by the blasts due to the fact that their hotels were near bays away from the site of the incidents," Etstur, which offers tours to Sharm El-Sheikh four times a month, said in a written statement.

The company's partner airline, Atlasjet, will "continue its Egypt flights without interruptions," the statement added.

Hundreds of Israelis also continued holidaying in Sinai despite warnings from their government to avoid the Egyptian peninsula.

Around 7,000 Israelis are vacationing in Sinai and travel agents have reported few cancellations for holidays.

Egyptians feared the attacks would deal a fatal blow to the tourism industry so crucial to the country's economy.

Tourism, which is also the country's biggest private sector employer, has helped boost the ailing economy with hotel room capacity increasing from 52,000 in 1992 to 144,000 in 2005 in addition to 100,000 rooms under construction.