Egypt's subway on high security alert after hoax bomb threat
By The Associated Press
Cairo's busy subway system has been on high alert since a hoax bomb threat was made at a station several days ago, police said Saturday.
Metal detectors and bomb sniffing dogs were deployed at all exits and entrances to the busy underground transportation network as a precaution, a police official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
Vehicles and heavy trucks also were prevented from parking near subway stations around Cairo and its twin city, Giza, out of fear that they might contain explosives, according to the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
The high alert came after an Egyptian man warned police about a bomb allegedly placed at a station north of Cairo's downtown on Wednesday. The warning though turned out to be a hoax, the official said.
No terrorism arrests were made, but police rounded up dozens of subway commuters - many who were arrested for possessing hashish, the official said.
Cairo 20-year-old subway system provides transportation for some 6 million Egyptians. It's known for its color-coded stations decorated with vibrant mosaics and small pharaonic statues.
The government plans to extend the subway soon to a location near the ancient pyramids of Giza
Security upped on Cairo underground on attack fears
Thu 19 Jul 2007, 12:04 GMT
CAIRO, July 19 (Reuters) - Egypt has stepped up security on Cairo's underground Metro rail network over fears of a possible attack on its stations, a security source and a state-run newspaper said on Thursday.
Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted General Ismail al-Shaer, director of Cairo security, as saying that the interior minister had asked for heightened security on the Metro "as a preventive measure after postings on different Internet Web sites about terrorist operations inside passenger areas".
A security source told Reuters that authorities were acting on information that an unspecified number of militants may have smuggled themselves into Egypt, and that increased searches and heightened security were meant to head off any possible attack.
Security has been tight at Cairo's underground train stations for several days, with police searching the bags of almost all passengers and plainclothes security men monitoring movements.
A Reuters journalist had his backpack searched twice by uniformed security men at the same station on Thursday within two minutes. Previously, such searches were extremely rare.
The measures come ahead of a national holiday on Monday to mark the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy. Three major bomb attacks by Islamist militants targeting tourist areas in the Sinai peninsula since 2004 all occurred on public holidays.
An interior ministry spokesman described the steps as "new preventive measures" but denied there was any specific threat.
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