Top Suspect in Attacks on Tourists Kills Himself

Egypt’s prosecutor-general said Saturday that the accused mastermind of three recent attacks that targeted Western tourists in Egypt had committed suicide.

The official said Ashraf Saeed Youssef, 27, had died Friday in the hospital where he had been transferred a week ago for treatment after hitting his head several times against the wall of his prison cell.

Authorities believe that Youssef, who was detained April 30, organized the April 7 suicide bombing near a tourist bazaar that killed three foreign visitors, and led the group that carried out another bombing and a tour bus shooting the day he was arrested.