Toy gun causes airport crisis in Egypt

 A Russian diplomat has caused crisis at Cairo International Airport after he refused to have his luggage inspected and to undergo security checks by the Egyptian security officers before boarding on the Egypt Air flight 771 heading to the Swedish capital, Geneva.

Security officers suspected the diplomat’s bag after they found a “children’s pistol” inside it while the bag was passing through the X-ray checking machine. The embassy official refused to let the airport security officers to neither open nor conduct the normal security checks on his luggage.

Official sources reported that the Egyptian foreign ministry has intervened to resolve the crisis and convinced the Russian official to adhere to the security instructions.

Egypt has been imposing strict security measures at its airports following the crash of a Russian aircraft in October last year after it had left Sharm El-Shaikh en route to Russia. A number of national airline suspended flights to the Sinai Peninsula resorts as a result, causing losses estimated at $1.3 billion to the Egyptian tourism industry.