U.S. Hardens Stance on EgyptAir Inquiry

Even as Egyptian experts arrived to help unravel the mystery of the EgyptAir Flight 990 crash, a top Justice Department official made clear Thursday that the United States will not be bound by Cairo’s wishes in determining how best to move ahead with the investigation.

“We are certainly going to be working with the Egyptians . . . , but I would not say anything is contingent upon the approval of the Egyptian government,” said Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.

That tough stance could set up a diplomatic showdown with a key ally if Egypt continues to insist that the U.S. government is rushing to condemn EgyptAir co-pilot Gamil Batouty, who investigators suspect may have intentionally crashed the Boeing 767.

Egyptian citizens and government officials alike stepped up their criticism Thursday of the U.S. investigators’ keen interest in Batouty and the prayer that he was heard to utter on the plane’s cockpit voice recorder just before the jet began its descent, killing all 217 people on board.

In Istanbul, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa told reporters at a security summit meeting: “You can’t jump to conclusions from someone quoting the Koran and say that this was more than an accident. The investigation has to continue.”

And in Washington, officials of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said they were alarmed by the case that investigators reportedly are building against Batouty.

“If there is any evidence of a suicide mission, it has to be found somewhere other than that prayer,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Islamic advocacy group, said at a news conference.

The State Department echoed those concerns, condemning what spokesman James P. Rubin called “the tremendous amount of inaccuracy, wild speculation and outlandish conspiracy coming through in a variety of media.”

Rubin said he was troubled by irresponsible speculation both in the United States, where media coverage has focused on Batouty, and in Egypt, where competing theories have abounded regarding a supposed U.S. military conspiracy.

“We think all of that does a grave, grave disservice to the families, both in the United States and in Egypt, who are obviously the real ones suffering from this tragedy,” he said.

The next key step in the case could come within a few days, when officials at the National Transportation Safety Board decide whether to hand the case over to the FBI for a criminal investigation.

NTSB officials already have said that they have found no sign of mechanical defect or weather problems that would have caused the Oct. 31 crash. They were ready to turn the case over to the FBI earlier this week, but then Egyptian officials raised concerns about a rush to judgment. U.S. officials agreed to defer the decision to allow time for more Egyptian aviation experts to come to the United States to assist in the review, particularly in listening to the voice recorder and translating the cockpit conversation from Arabic.

Egyptian ambassador Nabil Fahmy said in an interview that the last four or five Egyptian experts arrived Thursday to review the available flight data.

The direction of the investigation “should be based on a comprehensive analysis,” he said. “We’ll see. If [the evidence] leads in another direction, OK. No one has a particular agenda. It’s only to find the truth.”

Fahmy said U.S. and Egyptian officials can work together to determine the cause of the crash.

“We both have the same interests in determining what happened. [Egypt has] a primary interest not only because of families but because it’s our national airline,” he said.

Indeed, legal observers suggest that because EgyptAir is a state-run airline, the crash could expose Egypt to serious financial liability from civil lawsuits brought by the families of the victims. And the nation’s tourism business could be hurt by the barrage of publicity.

Lee Kreindler, a veteran New York aviation attorney, is representing four victims’ families so far. He said it seems clear that someone intentionally crashed the plane--because of the timing of the prayer and the deactivation of the autopilot, plus other evidence.

Holder stressed that officials have made no final decisions on whether to refer the case to the FBI, and he refused to discuss specific information about Batouty. At the same time, however, Holder acknowledged the possibility of a suicide crash--something no other U.S. official has been willing to do publicly.

Asked what motive a pilot might have had for crashing the plane, Holder said: “That’s certainly . . . a very relevant question if in fact that is what happened. If in fact there were some kind of voluntary action, the question would have to be, why did that happen.

“And, you know, that involves a whole series of things--interviews, examinations of people’s backgrounds--and those kinds of things take time,” Holder said. “We should not rush to judgment here. Let the investigation proceed.”

Although Holder said the United States ultimately will determine the course of the investigation, he stressed that “we are proceeding in this matter as partners . . . , and all the cooperation we can get from our Egyptian partners is appreciated.”

The FBI is continuing to assist the NTSB by conducting interviews and doing other investigative work.

Times staff writers John J. Goldman in New York; Robert L. Jackson, Norman Kempster and Ronald J. Ostrow in Washington; and James Gerstenzang in Istanbul contributed to this story.