{Over 20 flights to begin lifting thousands of British citizens from Sharm el-Sheikh after government grants permission.}
Thousands of British tourists stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh can begin flying back home on Friday after the UK government permitted resumption of flights from the Egyptian resort city.
More than 20 flights are expected to take off for London from the Red Sea beach resort.
In a big setback for tourism in Egypt, France and Belgium have advised their citizens against travelling to Sharm el-Sheikh, from where the Airbus A321 airliner took off before crashing in the Sinai desert.
And Britain is advising against all but essential travel by air to and from the Red Sea resort.
Friday’s flights would see a ban on airlines carrying luggage in the cargo holds of planes. Bags and other items that do not meet normal regulations for cabin luggage would be flown home by the British government and returned via courier.
Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands have suspended flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh, leaving thousands of European tourists stranded.
Russian planes however, continue to fly to and from the resort city.
Earlier, British Prime Minister David Cameron maintained that the crash of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt was “more likely than not” caused by a bomb, despite Russian and Egyptian leaders’ calls for all sides to await results of an official investigation.
Following talks on Thursday in London with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cameron defended his decision to suspend flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and make public his belief, based on intelligence reports, that a bomb was the likely cause of last week’s crash, which killed 224 people.
“I think we have done the right thing,” Cameron said at a joint press conference with Sisi.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin told Cameron by telephone that crash assessments “should be based on the data that would become available in the course of the official investigation”, the Kremlin said.
Egyptian ministers said earlier that Britain’s flight suspension was “premature” and “unwarranted”. Sisi declined to criticise his hosts. He told reporters that Egypt had “responded immediately” to Britain’s security concerns, calling Sharm el-Sheikh’s airport “completely secured”.
Cameron said the two countries had a “good, mutual understanding” on action needed to limit the effects of the security concerns on Egypt’s tourism industry.
Giving impetus to the bomb theory, US President Barack Obama later said he believed there was a “possibility” a bomb brought down the Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula.
“I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board, and we’re taking that very seriously,” Obama said in a radio interview.
The White House earlier said the US had not made its own determination about the cause of the crash, but couldn’t rule out terrorist involvement.
Citing anonymous US officials familiar with intelligence assessments, several US media organisations have reported that the crash was likely caused by a bomb planted by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or an affiliate of the armed group.
US officials were looking at possible additional security on some US-bound flights, but had not yet made any decisions, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, noting that Britain had taken more urgent security steps because there were more British interests in the region.
An estimated 20,000 British citizens remain in Sharm el-Sheikh, including at least 9,000 holiday-makers, broadcaster BBC reported.
Thomas Cook, one of Britain’s largest tour operators, said it had suspended all tours to the resort until November 12.
Sisi faces protests
The Egyptian president also faced protests in London for cracking down on his political opponents. Hundreds of protesters gathered on Thursday outside Downing Street to denounce Sisi’s visit.
Dressed in body bags and nooses, the demonstrators lay down outside Cameron’s residence, blocking the entrance in a protest symbolising the hundreds of people killed and sentenced to death during, and since, the military, led by Sisi, overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in August, 2013.
Sisi has been condemned by international human rights watchdogs since launching a crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood – Morsi’s party, which the government considers a terrorist organisation, and other opposition groups.
ALJAZEERA
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