katie in cairo, egypt

Egypt has once again come to the front page as another one of those Arab countries in the Middle East with terrorism, instability, and unrest. On Monday, the little Sinai seaside resort known as Dahab, or "Gold," was bombed in three locations, killing 24 people and wounding nearly 150. This has been the third attack in the Sinai peninsula in the past 18 months. Last Summer (I remember hearing about it right before I came to Egypt), the luxory five stars Red Sea hotspot resort, Sharm el Sheikh suffered a much larger attack in which 60 people were killed. Not long before, the third major Western resort, Taba, right on the Egyptian side of the border with Israel met its own fate. Additionally, two days after the Dahab bombings, two other men luanched a suicide bombing attack in the North of Sinai at the multinational forces barracks. While only the two bombers themselves were killed in the mission, it certainly sent a strong message about the security forces in the Sinai following the Dahab explosions.

On a personal note, what was especially frightening was the timing of the attacks. For the past two weeks AUC has been on its annual Spring Break, a time when especially the many study abroad students are traveling. Both Dahab and Sharm el Sheikh are frequent stops along the way where people stay for a night or two to hit the clubs in Sharm and go scuba diving and relax in Dahab. I myself, having had to change my travel plans mid-trip due to the suicide bombings in Tel Aviv decided to spend the rest of my trip in Dahab and then Sharm el Sheikh. Only four days before the bombings, Sayed and I were sitting having a leisurely dinner, coffee, and shisha at one of the very cafe's where many were killed in Dahab, the Aladdin Restaurant. After hearing about the attacks once already having securely made it back to Cairo, Sayed immediately called his friends back in Dahab to check if they were ok. Thankfully they were, except his friend told him that Bashir, a guy we had met in Dahab last December who worked in Aladdin had died in the blasts.

The whole situation is simply devastatingly sad. Who did this? Were they trying to kill Westerners and their "sin?" Then why Dahab, a tiny low-key camp-like resort that hosts mostly young backpackers? Five star hotels are one thing, but a cafe on the sea full of Egyptians? The Egyptian government has of course launched a "full scale" investigation and have so far arrested some 30 of the local Bedouins living around the area, but nothing is really clear. While some suspect that the Dahab bombings are linked to the other two previous attacks, especially because each was launched right before a national holiday (a day after the Dahab explosions was "Sinai Liberation Day"), nothing seems to be clear. Though it is likely that the local Bedouins were somehow involved, they are probably linked to any number of other small terrorist cells operating within the country.

Aside from the inexcusable loss of life, the attacks are likely to continue to have a further detrimental effect on the already slightly staggering tourism industry that so many Egyptians rely on for their livelihoods. With Dahab being such a small resort, any amount of fluctuation in the usually high-level summer business will be painful.

Do the series of attacks mean that Mubarak has lost control of the security situation of the state? Despite the seemingly thousands of Egyptians employed in the state security apparatus, it appears that they have been largely ineffective and quite powerless. Not that it's any surprise--I can't tell you how many metal detectors I have been waved through as the lights blink and the beeps shout for me to stop and be checked. But then again it's impossible to check every bag, each purse, without completely aggravating everyone involved. It seems enough that already there are Egyptian police armed with Klashnikovs standing on every corner (despite the fact that most of them appear to be relatively harmless, and often you can catch one here and there taking a nap on duty). For sure, Mubarak will use the attacks a further excuse to tighten security, renew the emergency laws, and of course, continue to delay political liberalization...

posted by Katie Warren @ 1:07 PM