DATE=10/22/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41659
TITLE=UPPER EGYPT: LUXOR TOURISM
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=LUXOR, EGYPT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
///EDS: FIRST IN A SERIES OF NEWS FEATURES ON UPPER EGYPT; FOR
POSSIBLE PROGRAMMING, PLEASE NOTE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF LUXOR
TOURIST ATTACK IS NOV. 17TH///
INTRO: LAST NOVEMBER, A SMALL GROUP OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS KILLED
NEARLY 60 TOURISTS VISITING SOUTH EGYPT'S FAMOUS ANCIENT TEMPLES
OF LUXOR. WHILE EXTREMISTS HAD, FOR YEARS ATTACKED POLICE AND
FOREIGNERS IN THIS PART OF EGYPT AS PART OF A CAMPAIGN TO
OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT AND INSTALL AN ISLAMIC STATE, THE ATTACK
LAST YEAR ON THE TEMPLE WAS PERHAPS THE MOST VICIOUS EVER. IT
HAS LEFT BOTH PSYCHOLOGICAL SCARS AND ECONOMIC HARDSHIP. OUR
MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB VISITED LUXOR RECENTLY AND
FILED THIS REPORT.
TEXT: LUXOR HAS, PERHAPS, THE GREATEST PAST OF ANY CITY IN THE
WORLD. LYING ON THE BANKS OF THE UPPER NILE RIVER, IT IS HOME TO
SOME OF THE GREATEST MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT TIME. SOME OF THEM ARE
FOUR-THOUSAND YEARS OLD, BUILT BY THE KINGS OF THE OLDEST KNOWN
HUMAN CIVILIZATION, THE PHARAOHS.
THE TEMPLE TO THE QUEEN PHARAOH HATSHEPSUT, WHO LIVED 34-HUNDRED
YEARS AGO, LIES AT THE FOOT OF THE CLIFF THAT OVERLOOKS THE VAST
COMPLEX OF TOMBS AND TEMPLES ON LUXOR'S WEST BANK. IT IS A WIDE,
HORIZONTAL EDIFICE WITH THREE STORIES OF COLUMNS AND A LENGTHY
STONE RAMP LEADS UP TO ITS MAIN ENTRANCE.
ON NOVEMBER 17TH LAST YEAR, SIX MEMBERS OF THE OUTLAWED ISLAMIC
GROUP ENTERED THE TEMPLE, KILLED THE GUARDS, AND SHOT AND STABBED
VISITORS, CUTTING OPEN MANY OF THE BODIES AND PLACING EXTREMIST
LITERATURE INSIDE THEM.
///OPT/// THE PEOPLE OF LUXOR CAN'T FORGET THAT DAY: THE SOUND OF
SHOOTING, THE RESCUE HELICOPTERS EVACUATING THE DEAD AND THE
WOUNDED. MANY OF THEM DONATED BLOOD. OTHERS HELPED POLICE TRACK
DOWN AND KILL THE ATTACKERS. MANY REMAIN SHOCKED BY THE ATTACK
AND DISGUSTED OVER THE ATROCITIES COMMITTED. ///END OPT///
///SFX TOURISTS TALKING IN SPANISH -- IN FULL TO ESTABLISH AS
BREAK, THEN UNDER AND LOSE///
TODAY, TOURISTS FROM MANY COUNTRIES STILL TAKE THE FERRY ACROSS
THE NILE TO THE WEST BANK AND HIKE UP THE HARD SCRABBLE PATHS TO
THE TEMPLES. BUT IN ADDITION TO VIEWING THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS,
THEY EXAMINE THE BULLET MARKS IN THE STONE WALLS AND LISTEN TO
THE GUIDES TELL OF THE TERROR THAT DAY LAST NOVEMBER. WHILE THE
NUMBER OF TOURISTS SINCE THE ATTACK REMAINS LOW, MANY WHO VISIT
SAY THEY DO NOT FEEL THEY'RE IN DANGER.
JASON WATKINS IS AN AMERICAN TRAVELLING WITH A CHURCH GROUP FROM
THE CENTRAL STATE OF MISSOURI.
///WATKINS ACT.///
THE KILLING OF THE TOURISTS KIND OF MAKES YOU SCARED AND
NOT WANT TO COME. BUT YOU CAN'T LET SOMETHING LIKE THAT
KEEP YOU FROM COMING BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T GO ANYWHERE.
///END ACT///
JULIE HERSEY IS A NEWLYWED FROM THE SOUTHERN STATE OF FLORIDA WHO
IS HERE WITH HER HUSBAND ON THEIR HONEYMOON.
///HERSEY ACT///
IF YOU'RE SCARED TO TRAVEL YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO
EXPERIENCE THIS, AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET ANYONE HOLD ME
BACK AND SCARE ME FROM COMING TO SEE SOMETHING SO
FASCINATING AS THIS.
///END ACT///
ANGELA HOUSE IS AN AMERICAN TEACHER WHO MOVED TO EGYPT TWO MONTHS
AGO AND IS VISITING LUXOR FOR THE FIRST TIME.
///HOUSE ACT.///
I DON'T FEEL UNSAFE. I DON'T FEEL LIKE ANYONE IS GOING
TO HURT ME OR STEAL ANYTHING FROM ME. I FEEL SAFER HERE
THAN I DO IN THE STATES.
///END ACT/// //END OPTS//
TOUR OPERATORS SAY THAT FOLLOWING THE ATTACK IN LUXOR, HOTEL
OCCUPANCY RATES DROPPED FROM MORE THAN 70 PERCENT TO JUST FIVE
PERCENT. IN RESPONSE, HOTEL ROOM RATES HAVE BEEN CUT BY AS MUCH
AS ONE-HALF. OPERATORS SAY THEIR OCCUPANCY RATES HAVE BEGUN TO
RISE IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS -- BUT THEY ARE STILL LOSING MONEY.
THE LOCAL RESIDENTS WHO DEPEND ON TOURISM -- THE TAXI DRIVERS,
THE GUIDES, THE SELLERS OF SOFT DRINKS AND SOUVENIRS -- ARE
HAVING AN EVEN HARDER TIME.
///SOUND OF STREET HAWKER -- ESTABLISH AND UNDER, THEN OUT///
THESE PEOPLE LIVE FROM DAY TO DAY, AND ARE OFTEN DESPERATE FOR A
CUSTOMER.
THE MAYOR OF LUXOR IS A RETIRED ARMY GENERAL, SALMY SELIM. HE WAS
APPOINTED ONLY A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE LUXOR ATTACK. MAYOR SELIM
ACKNOWLEDGES THE ATTACK HURT TOURISM, BUT HE SAYS IT IS
RECOVERING.
///SELIM ACT IN ARABIC (WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION)///
INDEED, THE INCIDENT (ATTACKS) CUT THE NUMBER OF
VISITORS TO THE CITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRST MONTHS OF
THE YEAR, BUT THANK GOD, THE NUMBER IS STARTING TO
RETURN TO ITS NORMAL LEVEL. //OPT// WE HAVEN'T REACHED
THAT YET, BUT DAY BY DAY, WEEK BY WEEK, THE NUMBER IS
GROWING AND WERE ARE VERY ENCOURAGED. //END OPT//
///END ACT.///
MAYOR SELIM SAYS HE INHERITED A TRAUMATIZED CITY, BUT THAT
BECAUSE OF IT, SECURITY FORCES HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED THE WAY
THEY PROTECT THE CITY AND ITS MONUMENTS.
//OPT// GENERAL SELIM SAYS SECURITY FORCES HAVE ESTABLISHED
SECURITY CORDONS AROUND CERTAIN AREAS WHICH OVERLAP, LIKE CHAIN
LINKS. HE SAYS THE MILITARY CAN ALSO BE CALLED IN WHEN NEEDED.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE, HE SAYS, IS THAT LOCAL CIVILIANS
HAVE BEEN ENLISTED TO WATCH OVER THE CITY AND IDENTIFY ANY
SUSPICIOUS STRANGERS. ///END OPT///
GENERAL SELIM SAYS LAST YEAR'S ATTACK IN LUXOR WAS BY A SMALL
GROUP WHO USED WHAT HE CALLS "THE BANNER OF RELIGION" TO TRY TO
TAKE POWER. THE MAYOR SAYS THAT IN SEVEN-THOUSAND YEARS, LUXOR
NEVER SAW SUCH VIOLENCE. IT'S HIS INTENTION, HE CONCLUDES, THAT
IT NEVER SEE IT AGAIN. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/PCF
22-Oct-98 1:44 PM EDT (1744 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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