US embassy cable - 05CAIRO5695

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 005695 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2015 
TAGS: PTER, CASC, ASEC, EG 
SUBJECT: EGYPT: EXPLOSION IN GIZA 
 
Classified by Charge Stuart E. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  An Egyptian hospital clerk, Sami Gamal Ahmed 
Hegazy, was wounded on July 24 in an explosion in his Giza 
apartment.  The Cairo rumor mill immediately suggested the 
incident was a botched terror attack, but an Egyptian 
security official suggested it was simply an industrial 
mishap involving a scrap metal collector.   We still do not 
know the exact cause of the explosion and contrary to some 
media reports, there is currently no information that Hegazy 
was constructing a bomb with the intent to target foreigners. 
 The Embassy is continuing to press security contacts for 
more details on their investigation of the incident.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (C) On the afternoon of July 24, Egyptian Sami Gamal Ahmed 
Hegazy, a 33 year old administrative clerk at Cairo's Kasr 
al-Ayni Hospital, was wounded in an explosion in his 
apartment in Giza, the urban district on the west bank of the 
Nile next to Cairo.  Police sources report that Hegazy is 
hospitalized with multiple shrapnel wounds to the side of his 
body and head. 
 
3. (C) A GOE Security Contact asserted to LEGATT that Hegazy 
was "not connected to extremist groups" and was "a collector 
of metallic remains" (which we interpret to mean scrap 
metal).  The contact said that investigators did not detect 
any explosives in the apartment, and could not offer any 
explanation beyond suggesting that it was some sort of 
industrial mishap. When LEGATT pressed as to how scrap metal 
would spontaneously explode, the contact stuck close to his 
talking points, implying that Hegazy might have come across 
sort of unexploded munitions in his metal collecting. 
 
4. (C)  The Cairo rumor mill, already running at full speed 
because of the Sharm el Sheikh bombings and fed by breathless 
reporting from Arabic satellite news services, characterized 
the incident as a failed suicide bombing on the Kerdasa 
handicrafts market, regularly visited by foreign tourists. 
Other rumors held that the explosion took place in a scrap 
metal yard rather than a private home.  An Embassy Cairo LES 
investigator visited the site and confirmed in conversations 
with neighbors that an explosion occurred on the top floor of 
an apartment building. 
 
5. (C)  Comment:  In the current atmosphere of rumor there is 
considerable skepticism over the GOE explanation.  It is 
possible that our security contacts have not been forthcoming 
and may have more information than they are sharing.  If 
indeed Hegazy was building a bomb, in the wake of the Sharm 
attacks, this information could be further damaging to the 
tourism industry and the government's standing.  That said, 
to date, we have no information to counter the GOE version. 
The Embassy will continue to press GOE security contacts for 
more details on their investigation of the incident.   End 
comment. 
 
 
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State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. 
 
JONES