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Sinai plane crash live: David Cameron says Russian jet was 'more likely than not' brought down by terrorist bomb

The Prime Minister says he will discuss British intelligence on the incident with Vladimir Putin

Adam Withnall
Thursday 05 November 2015 08:09 GMT
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A handout picture taken on November 1, 2015 and released on November 3, 2015 by Russia's Emergency Ministry shows the wreckage of a A321 Russian airliner in Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula
A handout picture taken on November 1, 2015 and released on November 3, 2015 by Russia's Emergency Ministry shows the wreckage of a A321 Russian airliner in Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula (AFP/Getty Images)

Here are the latest updates:

David Cameron will chair a second meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee later this morning, Downing Street has said, as UK officials scramble to act on "new intelligence" suggesting the Russian jet which crashed on Saturday was brought down by a terrorist bomb.

The Foreign Office says that around 20,000 Britons are stranded in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after the Government grounded all flights between it and the UK.

No flights are expectecd to leave before at least Friday, while officials said they are working with airlines to find a way to return people to Britain safely.

British experts travelled to Sharm to assess the security situation on Wednesday night, and clearly found measures there wanting. Their evidence was considered by a Cobra meeting on Wednesday night which decided "all but essential" travel through the airport must be halted.

Egyptian authorities have criticised the Government's decision to release a statement, which its foreign minister described as "premature and unwarranted".

But Philip Hammond, the UK Foreign Secretary, said ministers had no choice but to act on intelligence "which we believe represents a threat to British nationals".

He said his angry counterpart in Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, "hasn't seen all the information that we have".

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