No Obstacles to Russia and Egypt to Cooperate on Airport Security

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — There are no fundamental obstacles to Cairo and Moscow cooperation on enforcing airport security, Egypt's Ambassador to Russia Mohammed Badri said on Friday.

"There is nothing that should prevent cooperation between our countries…. Consultations are continuing, and we expect that we will soon hold another round. We are cooperating with the Russian side on the issue. Of course, these things take time, but there is nothing that is preventing or hindering the cooperation," Badri said.

Moscow stopped airtraffic with Egypt a week after a Russia-operated Airbus A321 crashed on October 31 after a bomb exploded on board while the plane was en route from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. All 224 people on board died in what became the largest civil aviation disaster in Russian history.

Shortly after the incident, Moscow and Cairo established an international, Cairo-led investigative committee to carry out an inquiry into the crash. In addition, the sides coordinated their efforts to strengthen security, particularly at the airports.

In late January, media reports suggested that the Russian security services had identified an Egyptian airport employee as being behind the A321 explosion.