More to come, warns militant group

According to reports from Cairo, the militant group has warned tourists today against visiting Egypt and said the attack on holiday-makers in the southern resort of Luxor would not be the last by Islamists seeking to topple the government.

In a statement faxed to an international news agency today, the vanguards of the group did not claim direct responsibility for the attack but said it was against visitors who did not heed 8220;earlier warnings8221; about coming to Egypt.

8220;The military operation in Luxor won8217;t be the last one,8221; said the statement, which was dated Monday and bore the group8217;s logo. 8220;Foreigners per se are not targets but we have warned them about giving money to the Egyptian regime.8221;

The statement, which could not be immediately authenticated, added: 8220;Entry to Egypt has to be through an agreement with the people and not with the government which does not represent the population.8221;

Meanwhile, Egyptian officials, stunned by the killing of 57 tourists by militants, today began the grim task of arranging repatriation of the bodies.

Meanwhile, reports from Washington state that the United States has cancelled all travel by government officials to upper Egypt and advised private US citizens not to go there following the massacre.

President Bill Clinton offered condolences to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after suspected Islamists killed more than 60 people, most of whom were tourists. There were no immediate reports of American casualties.

A public announcement by the US State Department yesterday said all official US government travel to Egypt8217;s Minya governate and South had been cancelled 8220;until the security situation there has been clarified and further notice provided.8221;

The Department also said the US Embassy in Cairo was advising private citizens not to travel to the same area for the next three months and recommending that Americans throughout Egypt exercise caution.

Clinton, in a telephone call to Mubarak from air force one called the killings a 8220;terrible tragedy8221;, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters travelling with Clinton from Los Angeles to Wichita, Kansas.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Lee McClenny while condemning the massacre said: 8220;Such attacks, in addition to killing and injuring innocent tourists appear aimed at undermining the Egyptian economy, which hurts ordinary Egyptians.8221;