GIZA, Egypt:
Egyptian police killed 40 suspects in a crackdown yesterday after a roadside
bomb hit a tour bus claiming the lives of three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an
Egyptian guide. Thirty alleged "terrorists" were killed in separate
raids in Giza governorate, home to Egypt's famed pyramids and the scene of
Friday's deadly bombing, while 10 others were killed in the restive North
Sinai, the interior ministry said without directly linking them to the attack.

It said
authorities had received information the suspects were preparing a spate of
attacks "targeting state institutions, particularly economic ones, as well
as tourism, armed forces, police and Christian places of worship". The
ministry did not give any details about the suspects' identity or whether there
had been any casualties or injuries among the security forces. The statement
said the three raids took place simultaneously. The ministry published photos
of bloodied bodies with their faces concealed and assault rifles and shotguns
lying on the floor beside them.

A security source
said the raids took place early yesterday morning, hours after Friday evening's
roadside bombing which officials said hit a tour bus in the Al-Haram district
near the Giza pyramids, killing the three Vietnamese holidaymakers and their
Egyptian guide. Eleven other tourists from Vietnam and an Egyptian bus driver
were wounded, the public prosecutor's office said. Saigon Tourist, the company
that organized the trip, said the tourists were "on their way to a
restaurant for dinner" when the bomb exploded.

Company officials
were heading to Cairo yesterday and plans were made to allow some relatives of
the victims to also fly to Egypt. One of them was Nguyen Nguyen Vu whose sister
Nguyen Thuy Quynh, 56, died in the bombing, while her husband, Le Duc Minh, was
wounded. The couple, both aged 56, were in the seafood business, Quynh's
younger brother said. "We were all very shocked... My sister and her husband
travel quite a lot and they are quite experienced in travelling abroad,"
Vu told AFP. He said he was applying for a visa for Egypt and hoped to travel
yesterday. "Our wish is that we could bring my sister back home."

Vietnam's foreign
ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang thanked Egyptians who were caring for the
survivors. "Vietnam is very angry and strongly condemns the terrorist act
that killed and injured many innocent Vietnamese and has asked Egypt to soon
open an investigation, chase and give harsh punishment to those who carried out
these terrorist act," she said in a statement.

HH the Amir of
Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a cable to Egyptian
President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi to express strong denunciation of the bomb attack
on the tourist bus. The attack is morally despicable and runs counter to all
religious and humanitarian values as it targeted innocent civilians and left
scores of casualties, he stressed. HH the Amir reaffirmed Kuwait's firm support
to the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt in whatever measures it might take to
protect its security and stability. He expressed sincere condolences to the
families of the victims and wished the injured quick recovery.

HH the Crown
Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh
Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to the Egyptian leader.
An official of the Kuwaiti foreign ministry said Kuwait denounces in strong
terms the bomb attack on the tourist bus. Such terrorist attacks that target
civilians and put in peril the safety of innocent people highlight the need of
doubling international efforts to combat terrorism, the official said.

There was no
immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, the first attack to target
tourists since 2017. Friday's attack was the latest blow to Egypt's vital
tourism industry, which has been reeling from turmoil set off by the 2011
uprising that forced veteran president Hosni Mubarak from power. While tourism
has picked up since 2011, the 8.2 million people who visited Egypt in 2017 are
still a far cry from the 14.7 million who visited in the year before the
uprising.

"Yesterday's
attack undermines the Egyptian government's very determined message that the
country is safe for tourists," said Zack Gold, a US-based expert on Middle
East security issues. Egypt has been seeking to lure tourists back by touting
new archaeological discoveries and bolstering security around archaeological
sites and in airports. It is also planning to open a major museum near the Giza
pyramids - the only surviving structures of the seven wonders of the ancient
world.

In July 2017, two
German tourists were stabbed to death by a suspected militant at the Red Sea
resort of Hurghada. In Oct 2015, a bomb claimed by a local affiliate of the
Islamic State group killed 224 people on board a passenger jet carrying Russian
tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. Before Friday's bombing, security
forces were already on high alert ahead of New Year celebrations and the Coptic
Christmas on Jan 7.

Pope Francis said
he was "deeply saddened" by the attack on holidaymakers, in a
telegram to the Egyptian presidency which was signed by his number two Pietro
Parolin. "In deploring this senseless and brutal act, he prays for the victims
and their families, for the injured and for the emergency personnel who
generously came to their aid," the telegram said. A spokesman for
Britain's Thomas Cook travel group said it had cancelled day trips to Cairo
from Hurghada following the attack and it would continue to review the security
situation.

The blast and the
subsequent police raids come as Egypt battles a persistent insurgency in the
North Sinai, which surged after the 2013 overthrow by the army of Mubarak's
Islamist successor Mohamed Morsi. Militants linked to the Islamic State group
have claimed responsibility for previous attacks, including against Egypt's
Coptic Christian minority who make up about 10 percent of the population. The
army launched a large-scale operation dubbed "Sinai 2018" in February
to rid the Sinai of militants after an attack on a mosque in the north of the
peninsula killed more than 300 people. The army says that hundreds of suspected
jihadists have been killed since the campaign was launched. - Agencies