Egyptian police have found about 1,400 kilograms of explosives buried in two caches in the Sinai desert, security officials said on Friday.

One of the hiding places was 30 kilometres east of the Gaza Strip. Police sources said they believe those explosives were to be smuggled across the border to the Palestinian-controlled territory.

A second cache found east of the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya appeared to be intended for use by Egyptian militants.

Islamic militants have carried out three major bomb attacks in Sinai tourist resorts since October 2004, killing a total of 124 people.

The TNT appeared to be of the same kind that was used by militants in the terror attacks, an unidentified security official told the Associated Press.

The discoveries are the second large haul of explosives in Sinai in eight days. On Oct. 27, police seized one ton of explosives in the Rissan mountains, 30 kilometres east of Israel.

Capt. Mohammed Badr of North Sinai police said local Bedouin tribesmen on Friday led the police to the first cache, packed in 15 sacks, in the desert district of Gifgafa, about 95 miles south of
El Arish.

A local clan leader, Sheik Mohammed el-Ghanem, said he believed the explosives were going to be smuggled into Gaza.

"Unemployment is pushing some locals to seek this kind of business, in which they are paid by militants to sneak explosives outside our borders," el-Ghanem said.

Israel has accused Egypt of not doing enough to prevent the smuggling of weapons and explosives from the Sinai into Gaza. Israeli security officials believe militants in Gaza have been inspired by the network of tunnels built by the Hezbollah militia along the Lebanese border with Israel.

with files from the Associated Press