Police said a wanted militant blew himself up

Police said an Islamic suicide bomber detonated explosives as police pursued him near the Egyptian Museum, one of Cairo's main attractions.

Soon after, a tourist bus was fired on by two veiled women said to be the sister and fiancee of the bomber.

Both were killed - one is said to have shot the other, then herself.

The Egyptian authorities say the attacks were the work of a small group, but the BBC's Paul Wood in Cairo says there are fears of a renewed campaign by militants to target tourism and damage the economy.

Arrests

The interior ministry said the suicide bomber - identified as Ehab Yousri Yassin - was wanted in connection with an attack in a Cairo bazaar earlier this month which killed three foreigners.

Earlier, the security services had captured two of his accomplices.

Three Egyptians and four foreigners - an Israeli couple, a Swedish man and an Italian woman - were injured in the blast. The area was quickly cordoned off by police carrying semi-automatic rifles.

Two hours later, the two women shot at the back of a tourist bus in an area full of historic mosques, before apparently dying in a suicide pact.

Earlier reports had said one of the women was shot dead by the security forces, while another was said to have been wounded.

Egypt is currently under emergency rule, with some 16,000 suspected militants in prison.

Our correspondent says the Egyptian authorities and Western governments fear the attacks represent a new generation of Islamic militants.