The remote desert, a few steps from Darfur
Mohammed Helmy interviewed by Marco Hamam 7 October 2008

Is this the first time that tourists have been kidnapped in Egypt?

Absolutely not. In the past, numerous attacks harming tourists have taken place, but they have been obscured for fear that they would cause damage to tourism in a country where, in the last year, this sector represented 6.5% of GDP and around 13% of the work force. Prior kidnappings have been resolved, usually with the payment of a ransom from the Egyptian government, and the incident silenced. As reported by the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the kidnapping on Thursday 24 September could have been avoided “if a German citizen had not covered up his ten-day abduction months ago in the same region by members of the Sudanese Liberation Army”.

The newspaper adds that if the German citizen had denounced the kidnapping, travel agencies would have surely avoided tours in this region. But this person avoided reporting the incident so as not to miss his flight home due to the inevitable lengthy investigation! I think that the Egyptian authorities were made aware of this on the same day that it was controlled (Friday). However, they didn’t let the news spread in the hope that they could reach an agreement with the kidnappers and fear that the news could damage Egyptian tourism. So they were left to report the crime on Sunday, after German television had already presented the news.

Is it possible to speak of a ‘Yemenisation’ of Egypt?

I don’t think so. The situation in Egypt is completely different to Yemen. On one hand, al-Qaida does not exist in Egypt, as opposed to Yemen where the network has found a suitable environment to be culturally exploited and organised. They have managed to direct a campaign of organised long-term indoctrination, to draw in young people who represent a great majority of the population, which grows an irrepressible pace. On the other hand, kidnappings in Yemen are different to those which have occurred in Egypt. Their aim is to pressurise the government to make them meet the requirements of a given tribe; or to release some of their members; or for economic and political requirements. They are carried out by Yemeni citizens.

Meanwhile in Egypt, besides the fact that those responsible are foreigners coming from neighbouring countries (Chad, Sudan, Libya), the kidnappings have an economic aim (requesting a ransom) rather than a political one. Perhaps readers will remember the kidnappings of German and Swiss tourists in the south of Algeria by a Salafi group in August 2003, which ended with the payment of a 5 million euro ransom. However, it cannot be ruled out that due to disastrous economic conditions, some Egyptians might carry out kidnappings in coordination with foreigners from neighbouring countries. If this were to happen, we would fin ourselves facing a strange development of Egypt.

Do you think this kidnapping indicates that Egypt could be involved in conflicts which are not its own?

As the kidnappings occur in remote areas of the Egyptian desert by the Sudanese borders, this shows that Egypt, recognised for the great importance it puts on security, can be victim to attacks in its outer regions and become involved in conflicts beyond its own territory. This is exactly what was confirmed by Issandr El Amrani, an analysist on Egyptian and North African issues at the International Crisis Group, who wrote that “when close to a failing state such as Sudan, it is no wonder that Egypt becomes involved”. The desert area where the kidnappings took place is considered a weak spot for Egyptian security, an almost uninhabited place a few steps from the conflicts of Darfur in western Sudan and eastern Chad.

In your opinion, why are Egyptian security forces unable to protect tourists? Is that remote zone under the control of the government of Cairo or neighbouring countries?

They have not been able to protect it for many reasons. First of all, as I already said, because the kidnappers exploited a weak spot in the Cairo security net, closely following tourist’s movements. Moreover, the area where the kidnapping happened is more than 750 kilometres away from Cairo. They are uninhabitable areas and despite the presence of armed forces along the borders, you could not say that that area is well-known. It is, however, not clear why the Egyptian foreign minister and the Israeli government are rushing to deny the presence of Israelis among those kidnapped and why the security bodies in northern and southern Sinai have declared a state of alert: control was reinforced wherever Israelis could be found, such as in tourist resorts, hotels, etc, and blockades have been put in place where everyone passing through or taking a holiday in the natural reserves or tourist villages had to pass through metal detectors. Someone also asked why this region was the destination of the American Ambassador in Egypt just a few days before the kidnapping, without her informing the Egyptian Authorities.

And in the future? Will this event have a negative impact on the amount of tourists visiting Egypt? Is Egypt safe?

It is likely that Egypt, which is attuned to the tourist industry, will try to avoid similar events repeating themselves. Perhaps it will become forbidden for foreigners to travel in unstable areas, as the government did in the nineties. The tourist industry in Egypt has been involved in worse situations. We should rule out the notion that tourism will be influenced by an event which took place in an area only visited by the boldest tourists. According to tour operators, out of the 12 million tourists who visit Egypt every year, only a few thousand go all the way to the al-Gilf al-Kabir region, where kidnapping of tourists took place. Personally, I believe that given the ways that a kidnapping can be dealt with, Egyptian tourism has nothing to fear.

Translation by Helen Waghorn

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