A Tour of Egypt 49to counterbalance Iranian-backed Shi’ite radicals and the
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and its offshoots.
The Islamic Group (Al-Gamaa’a al-Islamiyya) broke from
the Brotherhood in the mid-1970s. Al-Gamaa’a al-Islamiyya
is the group responsible for the attack that killed 18 Greek
tourists in Cairo (April 1996), which was until November 1997
the largest casualty count from a single incident in Egypt’s
modern history. Terrorist groups killed 132 persons in 1996,
compared with 200 the previous year. Persons killed included
48 security or police officers as well as 84 civilians. Most
attacks were against either authorities or Coptic Christians
in Minya, Assiut, Sohag or Qena (Qina). Groups also attacked
churches and other properties owned by Christians. These
attacks are partially the result of a feud between authorities
and families located in these areas stemming from their goal
to establish an Islamic state and the perceived economic
repercussions of a secular government.
Ten people were killed and numerous wounded on
18 September 1997 when individuals tossed Molatov
cocktails under a tourist bus outside the National Museum
at Midan Tahrir in Cairo. Two brothers were arrested for
this action, one of whom had previously lashed out at a
major hotel that refused to give him a job and killed three
people in the process. (The brothers have since been
sentenced in October 1997 and executed in May 1998.)
Therefore, this action appears to be separate from any
organised anti-government groups that have previously
sought to undermine the government of President Hosni
Mubarak. Indeed, no known anti-government group has
claimed responsibility for the event or association with
these criminals.
A new round of attacks began in a little publicised event
in Minya in October 1997. At this time, criminals dressed in
police uniforms set up roadblocks and killed nine Egyptians,
including four off-duty policemen. Since most recent terrorist
events have occurred in this region of Egypt, perhaps little
thought was given to the expansion of this mode of attack
to other areas. For whatever reason, security (which was
historically less intense in and around the major tourist