EL-ARISH, Egypt — Unknown assailants detonated a roadside bomb that injured two Canadians and destroyed an observers' van today in what may be a warning shot against foreign peacekeepers in the Sinai peninsula near the Gaza Strip, officials said.
It was a rare attack against the 1,800-member Multinational Force and Observers, or MFO — a non-UN peacekeeping force monitoring the 1979 Camp David peace accord between Egypt and Israel. Canada has 29 military personnel serving with the force.
Two Canadians, both women, were lightly wounded but had returned to work after the blast, the governor of North Sinai, Ahmed Abdel Hamid, told state TV.
In Ottawa, the Department of National Defence said two members of the Canadian Forces were slightly injured. "They have since returned to their normal duties" after being checked by medical staff, a statement said. The department declined to identify the two, citing the Privacy Act. "The explosion destroyed the van in which they were riding," it said. "The van carrying the Canadian personnel was travelling on an approved route."
One of the more intriguing rumours making the rounds in the middle east has nothing to do with the alleged newest developments of Zionist death-rays in toys, juice or bananas but concerns allegations that Al Qaeda has set up shop in the Sinai.
It’s a common mistake that Western main stream media commonly refer to the Al Qaeda leader, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi (currently thought to be operating in Iraqi) as a Jordanian and conveniently forget that his Palestinian heritage might have a contributed more than a significant degree or two to his radicalization rather than being a disenfranchised citizen of Jordan ever did.
It would also go a long way in explaining why an Al Qaeda would now be making a much more than passive interest in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and why the Sinai in the last few years has suddenly seen an up surge in terrorist activity after being relatively quiet since the signing of the Camp David Accord in 1979.
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