Egypt denies arrests of airport staff over air crash

Egyptian authorities have denied reports that two employees of Sharm al-Sheikh airport have been detained for questioning in connection with the downing of the Russian jet in October.

"Seventeen people are being held, two of them are suspected of helping whoever planted the bomb on the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh airport," a security official told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

According to Reuters, CCTV footage showed a baggage handler carrying a suitcase from an airport building to another man, who was loading luggage onto the doomed airliner from beneath the plane on the runway.

However, Egypt's interior and civil aviation ministries' media departments have denied in a statement that there had been any arrests.

Russian officials confirmed on Tuesday that the plane which crashed over Sinai on 31 October, killing all 224 people on board, was brought down by a bomb.

It joined Britain and the United States in reaching that conclusion.

But Egypt has not yet confirmed that a bomb was responsible, saying it wants to wait until all investigations are complete.

Egyptian ministers were meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh on Tuesday, with a news conference expected later in the day.