Egyptian police have detained a suspected mastermind behind last month's deadly attacks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, an Interior Ministry official said on Friday.
Hassan el-Arishi was arrested late Thursday at a house in the northern Sinai Peninsula, the official said on condition of anonymity. Other suspects detained since the three July 23 bombings that killed at least 64 people have identified el-Arishi as one of the masterminds who also helped carry out the attacks, the official added.
El-Arishi had been using identity documents belonging to a Nile Delta farmer, the official said. The suspect's family is being questioned. No other details were provided.
The detainee's name has not previously surfaced as a suspect in the Sharm bombings, which Egyptian investigators believe may have been carried out by homegrown Islamic militant cells based in the Sinai, possibly with international links.
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The attacks included two car bombs and a bomb in a knapsack that ripped through a luxury hotel, a neighbourhood full of Egyptians and the entrance to a beach promenade.
