BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 49 people were killed and 136 others wounded early Saturday in multiple bomb attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

    Sharm el-Sheikh, some 500 km southeast of Cairo, is lavishly advertised as the heart of the Red Sea riviera at the southern tipof the Sinai where the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba meet. It is important for Egypt as a symbol of sovereignty regained in the Sinai.

    Conquered by Israel during the June 1967 war along with the rest of the Sinai, Sharm el-Sheikh was restored to Egypt by the peace accord signed in 1979 by late president Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menahem Begin.

    The Israelis had begun developing Sharm el-Sheikh as a resort, building a few hotels there in the late 1980s.

    Since then, it has grown into a major resort attracting some 2 million visitors to Egypt each year, mostly from Israel and Europe.

    For years, Sharm el-Sheikh has also been the favorite choice of President Hosni Mubarak to host Arab summits and foreign dignitaries.

    In 2002, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) honored the resort as a "City of Peace."

    But the city is not so peaceful.

    On Oct. 7, 2004, Islamic militants detonated bombs in the Sinairesorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, killing 34 people, including several Israelis, and wounding more than 100.

    In January 2004, a charter flight bound for Paris plunged into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, killing all 148 people on board, including 133 French tourists.

    Initial investigation found that the crash was caused by enginemalfunction instead of terrorism. A final report is expected laterthis year. Enditem