New blow to tourism
The explosions in Egypt's Dahab killed 24 people and wounded more than 60. A child was killed. Among the wounded were one Russian woman, as well as Britons, Germans, Italians, French, Americans, Lebanese, Palestinians, Israelis, Australians, Koreans, Georgians and Danes. As Strana.Ru notes, Dahab is an inexpensive resort that attracted surfers, divers and lovers of informal recreation from all over the world. Therefore all the victims were young people from many different parts of the planet.
The attacks were committed on the eve of the day of liberation of the Sinai Peninsula from Israeli troops, celebrated in Egypt as a national holiday of the army, and possibly timed to coincide with it. But the most supported version among experts is another sortie by Islamists who struck at the main article of the Egyptian economy - tourism. A few days before the attacks, the country's authorities arrested several dozen extremists and also promised Western leaders to try to force the Palestinian ruling movement Hamas to abandon the war with Israel. Now, apparently, the explosions in Egypt will become just another catalyst for the Middle East conflict.
Egyptian Goa
Dahab is not the most popular resort among our tourists. There are no expensive hotels or luxurious restaurants. It is a holiday spot for young divers and surfers, attracted by informal recreation, good waves and the pleasant company of liberated like-minded people, the relaxed bohemian atmosphere of this peculiar resort that has earned the reputation of an Egyptian Goa. Therefore, among the victims of the explosions were people from a dozen countries.
The explosions went off at three busy spots in the center of festive evening Dahab - near cafes, souvenir shops and inexpensive hotels. The tourist season in Egypt is in full swing, and moreover, those days saw the celebration of the Spring Festival (Sham el-Nessim), so the city was crowded with both foreign tourists and Egyptians. Despite the increased security measures that the Egyptian authorities have been taking after previous attacks in their tourist centers, Dahab ceased to be the country's only seaside resort that until then had managed to avoid attacks.
It is not the first time terrorists have staged bombings during holidays in Egypt. In 2004, explosions went off in Taba and Nuweiba on October 7, the day after the celebration of the 31st anniversary of the start of the war for the liberation of Sinai. Then the death toll reached 34. Then a series of attacks swept through Sharm el-Sheikh on July 23, the anniversary of the anti-monarchist revolution of 1952. Sixty people were killed.
Between the West and Islam
The West supports Hosni Mubarak in his efforts to prevent the radicalization of Islam in Egypt. Incidentally, the latest mass arrests were made on the eve and during the visit to Egypt of French President Jacques Chirac. In the West, Hosni Mubarak is seen as a partner and they count on his help in resolving Middle East conflicts, both the Arab-Israeli and the Iranian nuclear one.
The Egyptian authorities, led by the country's president Hosni Mubarak, are actively fighting radical movements that enjoy the trust of the population but pose a threat to the leadership. In response, the terrorists chose the tourism sector, which brings the current regime its main income, as the main target of their struggle.
Significantly, the Egyptian authorities knew about the planned attacks. A week before the tragic events, the country's Interior Ministry announced the detention of 22 suspected Islamists from the group 'At-Taifa al-Mansoura' on charges of preparing major terrorist acts. It was specified that the terrorists' targets were to be tourist sites, as well as Muslim and Christian religious leaders, gas pipelines and government institutions.
And two days before that, 43 students of Asyut University were arrested, accused of belonging to the Islamist organization the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian authorities are waging a fierce fight against. This year, candidates supported by the Brotherhood won 88 of 454 seats in the parliamentary elections while remaining outlawed. According to official data, since the beginning of March about 100 members of this group have been detained in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood declares its intention to create an Islamic state in Egypt using methods of political struggle, but it cannot be ruled out that some members of this organization maintain contact with terrorist cells existing in deep underground.
That attacks were being prepared in Egypt was also known in neighboring Israel. As the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing the head of Israel's anti-terrorism services Danny Arditi, Israeli intelligence had had such information a month earlier. 'We knew about threats from small terrorist groups somehow linked to Al-Qaeda,' Arditi told the paper. 'About a month ago we raised the alert level and strongly recommended that all Israeli citizens not travel to Egypt, especially to the Sinai Peninsula.' Nevertheless, at the time of the explosions there were at least 20,000 Israelis in Egypt, who began hastily returning home.
Attacks at resorts are meanwhile becoming a common risk factor for tourists. And if Western lovers of beach holidays vote with their feet, preferring other, safer destinations, then Russians, as previous attacks in Egypt showed, on the contrary take advantage of lower hotel prices. As Lenta.ru reports, last year almost 700,000 Russian-speaking tourists visited the land of the pyramids, and there is not the slightest reason to doubt that in difficult times it is they who will help Egypt's tourism industry stay afloat.