CAIRO - Security is tighter than ever around Egypt's main tourist sites, a day after a bomb in Cairo's old bazaar killed at least two foreigners and was claimed by a previously unknown group in revenge for its "martyrs."
The blast was widely condemned and revived old fears of a fresh wave of terror attacks in Egypt but several opposition movements and analysts warned against a government decision to extend the state of emergency as a result.
Egyptian Tourism Minister Ahmed Maghrabi confirmed that a French woman and an American were killed when the blast ripped through the busy Khan al-Khalili area in the heart of Islamic Cairo on Thursday.
He said another person was killed but that the body could not immediately be identified. He did not say whether it was presumed to belong to the bomber.
In a statement posted on the internet and whose authenticity could not be verified, a previously unknown group calling itself the Islamic Brigades of Pride in Egypt said it carried out the attack.
The attack was perpetrated "to avenge our brothers, martyrs of injustice, and detainees" and to prove to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who "speaks of sleeper cells that there are also active mujahedeen working against him and his likes," the statement said.
The group said the bombing was also "in retaliation against America and all other colonial powers, for our Muslim brothers who are oppressed, whether they be in Iraq, in Palestine or elsewhere on bloodied Islamic land".
Initial reports indicated the attack was carried thanks to a booby-trapped motorcycle and that the bomb was a rudimentary device consisting of powder and nails.
Following the bombing -- the first against foreign targets in Cairo in more than seven years -- authorities beefed up security around the country's main tourists attractions, and embassies urged their citizens to keep a low profile.
"While there is no independent information to suggest that this alleged attack was a part of a larger effort, all residents of and visitors to Egypt should be especially vigilant and avoid areas of Cairo where large numbers of tourists congregate," the US embassy said.
Several wounded were still being treated in Cairo hospitals but many of the others were repatriated after receiving emergency care.
The blast struck one of the main alleyways in the Khan al-Khalili market, which is very popular with souvenir-hunting tourists.
The explosion plunged the entire district into darkness and the usually bustling streets of the famed bazaar were soon deserted, as tourists fled the area and shopowners hastily shut down their stalls.
On Friday, tourists were scarce in the area and security heavily deployed around the nearby Al-Azhar mosque.
"Our immediate concern is to take the appropriate measures and help those who have been affected by the explosion, but we should not be intimidated," Maghrabi said.
"There is no indication for the moment that people are cancelling their trips to Egypt," the tourism minister added.
Egypt is a hugely popular destination for tourists owing to its Pharaonic monuments, Nile cruises and Red Sea coast which have been rocked by major attacks against foreign targets in recent years.
The Egyptian economy is heavily dependent on tourism and has been severely hit by previous attacks.
Last October, at least 34 people, including several Israeli tourists, were killed in triple bomb attacks on the Hilton hotel Taba and two nearby resorts in the Sinai peninsula. More than 10 were wounded.
The Sinai bombings were the first such attacks against foreigners in Egypt since a wave of deadly bombings in the mid-nineties.
According to police, the authorities had foiled a string of attacks against foreigners in Khan al-Khalili allegedly masterminded by the Islamic Jihad group.
One of the former terror group's leaders at the time was Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, now Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's right-hand man.
The fresh unrest in the capital comes amid unprecedented moves by the opposition to Mubarak's rule and growing calls for lifting the 24-year-old state of emergency.
Political analyst Mohammed Sayed Said voiced his fear that "the Al-Azhar incident will be used to extend the state of emrgency."
The Kefaya movement, an opposition group that has recently staged bold street demonstrations calling for Mubarak's departure, warned the government against any temptation to conduct an indiscriminate crackdown in the aftermath of the bombing.
A statement warned "against using such criminal incidents in desperate attempts to extend repression and oppression or extend the state of emergency and hamper the Egyptian people's march towards democracy".
Lifting the state of emergency, which Mubarak slapped on the country after the 1981 assassination of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, is a centrepiece of all opposition groups' demands.
04/08/2005 15:40 GMT