Russian and Egyptian officials have not accepted an offer of assistance from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating the crash of a Russian airliner in late October.
"The FBI has offered forensic assistance and other services to our partners in Egypt and Russia, and stands ready to assist," Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Campbell tells Newsweek. The two countries are investigating why a Russian plane carrying 224 people crashed on October 31 in the Sinai while traveling between the sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and St. Petersburg.
All on board the airliner were killed in the crash. Preliminary investigations led both U.S. and U.K. officials last week to question whether the plane was brought down by a bomb, and a black box recovered from the plane suggests the flight came to a "violent, sudden" end.
President Barack Obama said last week that the United States is "very seriously" considering whether the plane was brought down by a bomb. It was not specified whether Obama requested that the FBI reach out to Russia and Egypt, or whether the agency acted of its own.
As a result of safety concerns, German, British, Irish, Swiss and Russian flights have been suspended from the airport.
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