Harr - hot

The situation in Egypt nowadays is really hot. No, I am not referring to the weather, which is contributing anyway. I am thinking about two main issues: terrorist attacks and presidential elections.

Terrorist attacks. There were a couple of bombings in Cairo, since I arrived here: one in Khan Al Khalili and one not far from the Egyptian Museum and a bus station. I did not perceive them but when I went to Sinai I realized that there was something going on. It was after the Taba and Sharm El Sheikh bombings. When we entered Sinai we started meeting only police or international forces cars and every now and then pick ups coming from Arabia or Jordan, packed with people and stuff. Not many tourists around. Only “one Egyptian and four Italini”. Ah, it was us…a couple of days after we reached Nueiba, we hard about an attack in the North of Sinai, in El Ariche. Me and Jo did not say anything to my parents and moved on with our holiday. But…On 15 August, unidentified assailants detonated a crude roadside bomb that slightly injured two female members of the Multinational Forces and Observers (MFO) and damaged their vehicle.

Egyptian newspapers started reporting about the role played by Bedouins in all these episodes. In the meanwhile, we were watching their children play with camels and bathing in the sea in front of us. Security officials seem certain that Bedouin outcasts assisted the attackers. They suspect that Bedouins may have provided arms, or helped the attackers navigate through the desert and find refuge in the mountainous areas. I do not doubt it, after I saw how the desert looks like. The area is spread out over some 240kms and consists of rugged mountains that host a number of dunes and valleys. The rocky and perilous Sinai mountains make its dunes and caves close to impossible to access without the assistance of local guides, who are able to master their way through the mountains even in the darkest of nights.

As we came back, we heard about massive interventions of the police in the area. The cover of the main Egyptian newspaper, Al Ahram, started showing pictures of crying wives, because police men were injured in two explosions: one produced by a land mine that exploded under a vehicle and one produced by a hidden land mine that exploded while forces were clearing the overturned vehicle and inspecting the scene of the first blast.

Some security reports claim that dozens of suspects have been held for questioning since the hunt started, while other press reports allege that hundreds have been rounded up. No official figure has been released by the Ministry of Interior. Probably because Egyptian police is well known between human rights activists for being particularly aggressive. According to the Government, this could be one of the reasons that have inspired young men in the area to become involved with such attacks. Reprisal for massive and violent arrests. Revenge. Hot blood.