As speculations and counter speculations keep soaring about the possible cause of the plane crash that occurred in the Sinai region of Egypt, US President Barack Obama and David Cameron have given their own opinions.
Barack Obama
US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron both believe a bomb may have downed a Russian plane in Egypt, with reports suggesting their view was based on intercepted communications between militants.
It will be recalled that the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the disaster, in which the Saint Petersburg-bound jet
crashed minutes after taking off, killing all 224 mainly Russian tourists on board.
Cairo and Moscow have sought to downplay the suggestion of an attack.
However, Obama told a US radio station: “I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board and we are taking that very seriously,” while emphasising it was too early to say for sure.
Also, in London, where Cameron hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday, the British premier told reporters it was “more likely than not that it was a terrorist bomb” that caused the crash.
And The Times newspaper reported on Friday that electronic communications intercepted by British and US spies suggested a bomb may have been carried onto the plane.
The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner said Britain’s security services suspect someone with access to the plane’s baggage compartment inserted an explosive device shortly before the plane departed.