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17 killed in

attack at cairo

hotel

CAIRO: Men with machineguns killed 17 mostly Greek tourists and wounded 15 in an attack outside a Cairo hotel on Thursday, eyewitnesses said.

Puddles of blood lay on the ground and in the lobby of the Europa Hotel, which lies close to the Giza Pyramids, said Reuters photographer Aladin Abdel Naby.

The tourists had just arrived from Cairo airport and were getting off a coach when the gunmen, on foot and in long white gowns, attacked from the street, security sources said. The tourists could include some Poles, hotel staff said.

Some bullets hit the coach and the ground around was strewn with spent cartridges, Abdel Naby said.

Israeli tourists to Egypt often stay at the Europa hotel but it was not immediately clear if Israelis were the target.

The security sources said the attack bore the hallmarks of an operation by one of Egypt's Moslem militant groups, which have attacked tourists sporadically since 1992.-Reuter