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Egypt Arrests Palestinian Man Wearing Suicide Belt


Egyptian police say they have detained a Palestinian man who was going to carry out a suicide bombing in a Sinai resort popular with Israelis.

The police say they arrested the man on Tuesday after he crossed the border by tunnel into Egypt from the Gaza Strip wearing a suicide belt.

Police in the Egyptian border town of Rafah say the man admitted he intended to carry out the bombing. Two other Palestinians who had rented an apartment in Rafah were also arrested as accomplices. They were allegedly planning to lead the would-be bomber to his target.

Egyptian authorities announced separately Wednesday that they have discovered a weapons cache in a mountainous area of Sinai. They say the anti-tank mines and explosives were destined for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

Wednesday's announcements by Egyptian authorities follow Israel's arrest Tuesday of a Palestinian man in Tel Aviv who they say was planning a suicide bombing there.

Three bombings over the past two years have targeted tourist resorts in south Sinai. The Egyptians have arrested scores of Sinai Bedouin who they accuse of being behind the attacks.

In January, a Palestinian suicide bomber from the Gaza Strip entered Israel and detonated a bomb in the Israeli town of Eilat, on the Red Sea coast, killing three people.

Israel has complained about underground tunnels at the Egypt-Gaza border being used by militants to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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