DATE= 12/01/97
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
NUMBER=6-10467
TITLE=THE TERRORIST ATTACK AT LUXOR
BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE
TELEPHONE=619-3335
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
CONTENT=
(UNEDITED)
INTRO: THE FALLOUT FROM THE TERRORIST ATTACK AT THE LUXOR
TEMPLE IN EGYPT THAT KILLED 58 FOREIGN TOURIST
CONTINUES. IN CAIRO, OVER THE WEEKEND, THE STATE
AIRLINE EGYPTAIR FIRST ANNOUNCED A 50 PERCENT FARE
REDUCTION ON ALL DOMESTIC SITES TO STIMULATE TOURISM,
THEN RESCINDED THE FAR CUT.
TOURIST EXPERTS SAY THE COUNTRY HAS SEEN TOURISM FALL
DRAMATICALLY SINCE THE INCIDENT, WITH HOTELS AND OTHER
TOURIST-RELATED BUSINESSES LAYING OFF WORKERS.
THE ATTACK, AT THE TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT, WAS THE LATEST
ATTEMPT BY A RADICAL ISLAMIC GROUP, GAMAA AL ISLAMIYA,
TO CRIPPLE THE COUNTRY'S THREE-BILLION-DOLLARS-A-YEAR
TOURISM INDUSTRY, ONE OF THE MAIN ENGINES OF EGYPT'S
ECONOMY. DESPITE ANNOUNCEMENTS OF DRAMATIC NEW SECURITY
MEASURES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF
TOURISTS CANCEL TRIPS THERE -- AN INDICATION THE ATTACK
APPEARS TO HAVE SUCCEEDED, AT LEAST IN THE SHORT RUN.
AS FOR AMERICAN PRESS REACTION, IT HAS UNIVERSALLY
CONDEMNED THE ACT, AND WE GET A SAMPLING NOW FROM
_________________ IN TODAY'S OPINION ROUNDUP.
TEXT: THE ATTACK TOOK PLACE ON MONDAY [11/17] IN MID NOVEMBER,
WHEN A GROUP OF TOURISTS WAS ARRIVING TO VIEW THE HUGE
TEMPLE. THEIR TOUR BUSES WERE RAKED WITH AUTOMATIC
WEAPONS FIRE FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR, AND SOME OF THE
VICTIMS WERE STABBED TO DEATH BEFORE POLICE WERE ABLE TO
DRIVE THE TERRORISTS INTO THE HILLS. ALL SIX ASSAILANTS
WERE KILLED.
PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK VISITED BOTH THE SITE AND THE
WOUNDED IN HOSPITALS. HE FIRED THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS
CABINET MINISTER AND ANNOUNCED A STEPPED-UP SERIES OF
SECURITY MEASURES AT ALL TOURIST SITES THROUGHOUT THE
NATION.
WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING OF EDITORIAL COMMENT IN NEBRASKA,
WHERE "OMAHA'S WORLD-HERALD" SAYS THE SLAUGHTER ... WAS
"NOT THE WORK OF ANY RELIGION."
VOICE: SURELY NO POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN THE WORLD IS MORE
DANGEROUS - - PARTICULARLY TO THE UNITED STATES AND
ITS CITIZENS - - THAN THAT OF THE FANATICAL FRINGE
GROUPS THAT HAVE PITTED THEMSELVES AGAINST COMPARATIVELY
MODERATE GOVERNMENTS IN PARTS OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD. IN
IRAN, FORCES OF THE AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI OVERTHREW A
PRO-WESTERN GOVERNMENT IN A 1979 REVOLUTION. ....
ALGERIAN ADVOCATES OF EXTREMIST ISLAMIC RULE HAVE WAGED
A FIVE-YEAR CAMPAIGN OF TERROR IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO
SEIZE CONTROL. THE TALIBAN MILITIA, WHICH CONTROLS
PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN, HAS ATTRACTED INTERNATIONAL
OUTRAGE WITH ITS SUPPRESSION, AMOUNTING TO HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES, OF WOMEN. ACROSS THE ARAB WORLD, AND SOMETIMES
IN EUROPE, TERRORISTS LINKED TO THE FUNDAMENTALIST
MUSLIM CAUSE HAVE BEEN IMPLICATED IN BOMBINGS AND
ASSASSINATIONS OF CLERGYMEN, JOURNALISTS AND MODERATE
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. ..... AT LUXOR .... IN ADDITION
TO SLAUGHTERING INNOCENT PEOPLE, THE TERRORISTS USED
FEAR TO CURTAIL THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS TO TRAVEL.
TOURIST BOOKINGS TO EGYPT HAVE DROPPED SINCE THE
MASSACRE. .... EGYPT'S PRESIDENT, HOSNI MUBARAK, CALLED
THE ATTACKERS 'MURDERERS AND CRIMINALS WHO DO NOT BELONG
TO ISLAM OR ANY OTHER RELIGION.'; IT'S AN APPROPRIATE
DESCRIPTION. NONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RELIGIONS
TEACHES ITS MEMBERS TO TREAT THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS
AS DID THE TERRORISTS AT LUXOR.
TEXT: IN CONNECTICUT, "THE HARTFORD COURANT" TAKES A MORE
HOPEFUL VIEW, SUGGESTING THAT THE TOURIST DECLINE IS
ONLY TEMPORARY.
VOICE: APART FROM THE FAMOUS AND ACCESSIBLE PYRAMID OF GIZA AND
THE SPHINX NEAR CAIRO, THERE IS NO GREATER TOURIST
MAGNET THAN THE GEMS OF ANTIQUITY ON EITHER SIDE OF THE
NILE IN THE VICINITY OF LUXOR AND THE ANCIENT CITY OF
THEBES IN SOUTHERN EGYPT - - THE TEMPLES OF HATSHEPSUT,
KARNAK AND LUXOR, THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON, THE VALLEY OF
KINGS AND VALLEY OF QUEENS WITH THEIR TOMBS OF LONG-DEAD
RULERS SUCH AS THE BOY-KING TUTANKHAMEN AND VARIOUS
RAMSES. IT WAS IN THIS HISTORY-RICH BUT BARREN
LANDSCAPE THAT THE GUNMEN ATTACKED THE SIGHTSEERS. THE
KILLERS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS SAY THEY WANT TO ESTABLISH
AN ISLAMIC THEOCRACY IN EGYPT, BUT THEIR DEEDS DISHONOR
ISLAM. FOR A WHILE, THE TOURIST TRADE IS LIKELY TO SLOW
DOWN, BUT NORMALCY WILL RETURN TO THIS ANCIENT LAND.
THE FANATICS WILL NOT GET THEIR WAY BECAUSE MOST
EGYPTIANS ARE OUTRAGED BY SUCH HIDEOUS ACTS. ..... THE
FACE OF FANATICISM IS UGLY INDEED.
TEXT: "THE WASHINGTON POST" LOOKS AT TERRORISM IN EGYPT DURING
THE LAST TWO DECADES, AND WISHES PRESIDENT MUBARAK WELL
IN HIS CURRENT CRACK DOWN AGAINST FURTHER VIOLENCE.
VOICE: ISLAMIC MILITANTS ASSASSINATED THEN-PRESIDENT ANWAR
SADAT IN 1981 FOR MAKING PEACE WITH ISRAEL. BUT IT TOOK
TEN YEARS FOR THE MOVEMENT TO BECOME A THREAT TO THE
SUCCESSOR REGIME OF HOSNI MUBARAK. THE INSURGENTS HAVE
KILLED A THOUSAND PEOPLE. PICKING UP THE CURRENTS THAT
CARRY ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD,
THEY SEEK TO CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT BY FORCE AND INSTALL
A STATE RULED BY THEIR VERSION OF ISLAMIC LAW. THEIR
TARGETS HAVE INCLUDED THE OFFICIAL SECURITY FORCES, THE
ANCIENT SITES THAT MAKE TOURISM A CRUCIAL
3-BILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY AND EGYPT'S COPTIC CHRISTIAN
COMMUNITY. PRESIDENT MUBARAK HAS HAD GOOD REASON TO
CRACK DOWN. UNTIL THIS LATEST INCIDENT, MOREOVER, HE
COULD CLAIM SOME SUCCESS. HE NEEDS NOW TO DEVISE A
STRATEGY, WORKING WITH AVOWEDLY NONVIOLENT MUSLIM
GROUPS, THAT WILL ISOLATE THE TERRORISTS, POLITICALLY AS
WELL AS OPERATIONALLY, AND AFFORD HIM A BETTER CHANCE TO
DETER AND DEFEND AGAINST THEIR ATROCITIES.
[OPT]
TEXT: "THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION" MAKES THE CASE, AS DID THE
"OMAHA WORLD-HERALD" THAT THESE TERRORISTS DO NOT
SPEAK FOR ISLAM OR ANY OTHER RELIGION.
VOICE: WE IN THE WEST CAN ONLY SHAKE OUR HEADS IN SORROW AND
HORRIFIED DISBELIEF AT THIS WEEK'S MASSACRE OF TOURISTS
..... AT [THE] AMBUSH OF AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN IN
PAKISTAN, AT THE PERIODIC THROAT-CUTTINGS OF WESTERN
WORKERS IN ALGERIA. WHAT KIND OF HOLY CAUSE TARGETS
HARMLESS CIVILIANS FOR SLAUGHTER SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY
COME FROM ANOTHER LAND OR CULTURE? IT IS IMPORTANT FOR
OUTSIDERS TO UNDERSTAND THEY AREN'T THE ONLY ONES IN THE
CROSS HAIRS OF THESE TERROR GROUPS. .... TOPPING THE
FANATICS' HIT LISTS ... ARE THE LEADERS OF THEIR OWN
RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS; EGYPT'S PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK;
PAKISTAN'S NEW MODERNIST LEADERSHIP, ALGERIA'S
MILITARY-BACKED REGIME.
..... SO HOW DOES THE WEST, ESPECIALLY AMERICA, DEAL
WITH THE PROBLEM OF THIS NON-TOO-INVITING REGION? WE
START BY REALIZING THAT THE EXTREMISTS THERE DON'T SPEAK
FOR THE ENTIRE POPULATION.
TEXT: IN FLORIDA, MEANWHILE, "THE MIAMI HERALD" CALLED THE
ATTACK "LUNACY IN LUXOR."
VOICE: "THE MASSACRE .... IN LUXOR ..... BY RELIGIOUS FANATICS
KNOWN AS THE ISLAMIC GROUP IS BUT THE LATEST PROOF THAT
WHILE HUMANS ARE EASY TO KILL, IDEAS ARE NOT. THE IDEA
HERE IS TO TOPPLE THE SECULAR EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT AND
INSTALL AN ISLAMIC-FUNDAMENTALIST REGIME AKIN TO THOSE
IN IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN. ..... THEY KILL - - MEN,
WOMEN, BABIES, TO THEM IT MATTERS NOT - - BECAUSE IN
THEIR WARPED BELIEFS, PEOPLE OF OTHER FAITHS ARE
INFIDELS. AND THEY BLOW THEMSELVES UP TO KILL 'INFIDELS'
BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THAT THEY'LL GO STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN
AS MARTYRS. THIS IS A LETHAL COMBINATION FOR ANY
GOVERNMENT, ANY PEOPLE, TO TRY TO CONTROL."
[END OPT]
TEXT: WITH THOSE THOUGHTS, WE CONCLUDE THIS BRIEF SAMPLING OF
EDITORIAL COMMENT ON LAST MONTH'S ATTACK ON TOURISTS
VISITING A MAJOR EGYPTIAN TEMPLE IN LUXOR ON THE NILE.
NEB/ANG/WFR
01-Dec-97 1:12 PM EST (1812 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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