Egyptial fundamentalists attack Romanians

CAIRO (Reuter) - The militant Muslim group el- Gamaat el-Islamiya (The Islamic Group) claimed responsibility for an attack yesterday on a bus carrying Romanian and Egyptian engineers in Assiut, southern Egypt. A statement said the attack was part of the group's warnings to foreigners to leave Egypt.

Security sources said no one was hurt when two gunmen opened fire on the bus carrying eight Romanians and two Egyptians at dawn yesterday.

It was the first attack on foreigners in Egypt this year and the first since el-Gamaat el-Islamiya told tourists and foreign investors earlier this month that they should leave the country for their own safety.

The last attack on foreigners was on 27 December, when gunmen ambushed a tourist bus in Old Cairo, wounding eight Austrians and eight Egyptians. Two newspapers said they had earlier received claims of responsibility from el-Gamaat.