10
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
JULY 27 - AUGUST 2, 2005
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--lobby. A second headed for another hotel but got caught in traffic and blew up before reaching the target. A third explosive device, hidden in a knapsack, went off minutes after the Ghazala blast at the entrance to a beach promenade. As many as 88 people were killed.
Officials name bomb suspect
BOMBINGS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — Investigators identified an Egyptian as a possible suicide bomber in the terror attacks at this Red Sea resort and were searching July 26 for his suspected Islamic militant cohorts — the first break in the probe.
The development came as two security officials revealed that authorities received information of an imminent terror attack in Sharm el-Sheik several days before the bombings July 23. But they thought casinos would be targeted, so security was increased around those sites, not hotels.
The officials would not say where the tip came from but said headquarters in Cairo told security forces in Sharm to be on alert and to step up measures around key locations.
It appeared authorities chose the wrong possible targets to watch, said one of the officials in Cairo. Both officials are close to the inquiry and spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not authorized for release.
Security was heightened around casinos on the theory they would be attacked because Israelis come to Sharm for gambling, which is banned in their country.
The government has sacked the heads of security in North and South Sinai provinces, an apparent sign of the failures that may have allowed the assault on one of Egypt's most closely guarded tourist towns.
Instead of going after casinos, bombers in two explosives-laden trucks targeted hotels. One plowed into the Ghazala Gardens reception area, leveling the
Police had been studying two bodies found at the Ghazala as possible bombers because the remains were dismembered. DNA tests identified one of the bodies as that of Moussa Badran, an Egyptian resident of Sinai who police said has links to Islamic militants.
Initially, officials said the body was that of Badran's brother Youssef. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the release of the details had not been authorized, did not give a reason for the change in identification.
The second body from the Ghazala is still being tested. A third body in Sharm's Old Market, the site of the other truck explosion, is also being examined as a possible bomber.
Moussa Badran — a resident of Sheik Zawaiad, a town near el-Arish in northern Sinai — fled the family house soon after a terror attack last October at two other Red Sea resorts, his stepmother told The Associated Press.
Many relatives — including women were arrested after Badran's disappearance and tortured, and another brother remains in custody, said the stepmother, Mariam Hamad Salem al-Sawarka.
Hours after the Sharm blast, police took DNA samples from Badran's father and siblings and from other families with relatives who have gone into hiding since
the Taba attacks, al-Sawarka said. She said Youssef Badran moved to another town near Sheik Zawaid several years ago and she had not seen him since.
Investigators have been exploring possible links between the July 23 attacks and those in October against hotels in the resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, near the Israeli border. Those earlier attacks killed 34 people, including many Israelis.
Israel warned Israelis a year ago not to visit Egypt, and especially Sinai, because of the possibility terrorists would attack tourist sites. No Israelis were known to have died in the Sharm bombings, although Israeli media have said there were a number of Israelis there at the time.
Security forces detained thousands of people after the October attacks — mainly from the north Sinai area.
This time, across Sinai, security forces took in 70 people for questioning on July 26, bringing to 140 the number questioned since the July 23 attacks. Police detained an unspecified number of people overnight in the villages of Husseinat and Muqataa near the Gaza border.
Security officials in el-Arish said that, based on information from interrogations, they were looking for two other people from the area, Moussa Ayad Suleiman Awda and Ahmed Ibrahim Hamad Ibrahim, in connection with the Sharm attacks.
Investigators were concentrating on the theory that the bombings were carried out by Egyptian militants, but were not excluding the possibility they received international help, the security officials in Cairo said.
DEATH ROW
Man claims retardation. faces death
BY SUE LINDSEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
YORKTOWN, Va. — A lawyer for a death row inmate told jurors July 26 his client was so limited mentally that he couldn't get a driver's license and was cut from the football team because he didn't understand the rules.
A prosecutor, though, said Daryl Atkins' mental retardation claim was a ploy to avoid execution.
"None of his teachers, friends or family believed Daryl was mentally retarded until he was facing the death penalty," Commonwealth's Attorney Eileen Addison said during opening statements.
Defense lawyer Mark Olive portrayed Atkins, 27, as someone who struggled through life because of his limited mental abilities.
"He was teased unmercifully as a child because of mental slowness," Olive said.
A jury was seated earlier July 26 for a trial that will determine whether Atkins, whose case led the Supreme Court to bar execution of the mentally retarded, is himself retarded.
The prosecutor's reference to the fact that Atkins had been sentenced to death prompted one of his attorneys, Joseph Migliozzi Jr., to seek a mistrial, but Judge Prentis Smiley Jr. denied the motion.
Some 100 witnesses could be called during the trial, which was scheduled to last two weeks.
Among the first witnesses were Atkins' mother and two former teachers, all of whom testified that Atkins struggled with schoolwork. Addison said, though, that school records show Atkins simply did not do the required work and began drinking and using marijuana in middle school, and it was "a steady decline from that point on."
Atkins was 18 when he and William Jones killed Airman 1st Class Eric Nesbitt, 21, for beer money. Nesbitt was abducted outside a convenience store, forced to withdraw money from an automated teller machine and driven to a desolate road, where he was shot eight times.
Prosecutors said Atkins was the trigerman. A plea agreement was reached with Jones, who testified against Atkins
and received a life sentence.
Three years ago, Supreme Court justices sided with Atkins' lawyers in ruling that execution of the mentally retarded is unconstitutionally cruel, but did not decide whether Atkins had the disability. The determination of whether inmates are mentally retarded was left to the states.
York County Circuit Judge Prentis Smiley told prospective jurors July 25 that their only assignment would be to decide Atkins' mental capacity.
"This case is going to be unique in the annals of judicial history," he said.
If the jury determines that he is mentally retarded, he will be sentenced to life in prison. Otherwise, he will be executed
An IQ of 70 or less is required to be considered mentally retarded in Virginia, which also takes into account social skills and the ability to care for oneself.
Atkins, who did not finish high school, scored 59 on an IQ test in 1998, but recorded 74 and 76 on more recent tests.
Virginia law, however, also requires that mental retardation be determined by age 18. Atkins' IQ was not tested as
a youth