DATE= 11/18/97 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10448 TITLE=THE TOURIST MASSACRE AT LUXOR BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= INTRO: THE DEATHS OF ALMOST 60 FOREIGN TOURISTS IN A TERRORIST ATTACK AT THE FAMED TEMPLE AT LUXOR IN SOUTHERN EGYPT, HAS DRAW A RAPID AND OUTRAGED RESPONSE FROM THE U-S PRESS. WE GET A SAMPLING NOW FROM __________________ IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE CONSENSUS OF EDITORIALS IS THAT EGYPT CANNOT GIVE IN TO TERRORISTS, NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS TO PROTECT THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHO TRAVEL THERE EVERY YEAR TO VIEW THE PYRAMIDS AND OTHER ANCIENT WONDERS. IN EGYPT, AUTHORITIES HAVE BEGUN SHIPPING THE BODIES OF THE SLAIN TOURISTS TO THEIR HOMES IN GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, JAPAN, BRITAIN AND COLOMBIA. IN ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT, PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK HAS FIRED HIS INTERIOR MINISTER AND REPLACED HIM WITH A CAREER POLICE OFFICIAL, HABIB AL-ADLI. IN THE MEANTIME, THE COUNTRY'S MAIN ISLAMIC MILITANT GROUP, AL-GAMA AL-ISLAMIYA, HAS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACK, THE LATEST IN ITS FIVE YEAR-ARMED STRUGGLE TO OVERTHROW EGYPT'S SECULAR GOVERNMENT AND REPLACE IT WITH AN ISLAMIC THEOCRACY. IN TUESDAY'S [11/18] U-S PRESS, THE ATTACK WAS GREETED WITH HARSH WORDS, AS IN THIS EDITORIAL FROM "THE KANSAS CITY [MISSOURI] STAR." VOICE: "THE SLAUGHTER OF TOURISTS IN EGYPT DEMONSTRATES ONCE AGAIN THE CRUEL INSANITY THAT DRIVES POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST. EXTREMISTS PRESENT THEMSELVES AS MILITARY FIGURES WHO ARE WAGING WAR AGAINST REPREHENSIBLE REGIMES. BUT THEIR TARGETS ARE FREQUENTLY HOPELESS INNOCENTS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE LITTLE IF ANY CONNECTION TO THE GRIEVANCES PRESENTED BY THE TERRORISTS. THE DEATH TOLL IN LUXOR COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE IF THE FANATICS HAD NOT MET WITH RESISTANCE FROM AUTHORITIES. ..... BY DAMAGING THE ECONOMY, OF COURSE, THE TERRORISTS ACTUALLY MAKE THINGS EVEN WORSE FOR THE POOR PEOPLE THEY ARE SUPPOSEDLY TRYING TO HELP. BUT MORE POVERTY AND DESPAIR CAN MEAN MORE RECRUITS FOR THE EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS. THE EGYPTIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM FALLS FAR SHORT OF A TRUE DEMOCRACY. LIKE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST, ORDINARY EGYPTIANS HAVE MANY LEGITIMATE GRIEVANCES AGAINST THEIR POLITICAL LEADERS. BUT THE EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS SEEKING TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT HAVE NO INTEREST IN CREATING A MORE OPEN GOVERNMENT; THEY SIMPLY WANT TO DICTATE TO EVERYONE ELSE, AND DESTROY ANYONE WHO RESISTS." TEXT: "THE PORTLAND [MAINE] PRESS HERALD" SAYS: "THE KILLINGS ... BETRAY THE TERRORISTS AS COWARDS," AND GOES ON TO EXCORIATE THEM WITH THESE WORDS. VOICE: "HEARTLESS ACTS LIKE THE SHOOTING .... OF DOZENS OF TOURISTS IN EGYPT ARE THE WORK OF COWARDS. TERRORISTS ARE COWARDS BECAUSE THEY FEAR THAT THEIR IDEAS ARE SO WEAK THAT THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO S SWAY OTHERS TO THEIR SIDE. THEY FEAR HISTORY WILL PASS BY THEIR CAUSE AND LABEL IT AS UNJUST. THEY FEAR THE TRUTH. IN EGYPT, THE COWARDS OPENED FIRE ON A BUSLOAD OF TOURISTS, MOST OF WHOM HAD STEPPED OFF THE BUS AND BEGUN A TOUR OF A THREE--THOUSAND-FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD HATSHEPSUT TEMPLE NEAR LUXOR. ..... THIS IS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF ATTACKS AGAINST TOURISTS IN EGYPT. INSURGENTS, SEEKING TO TOPPLE EGYPT'S GOVERNMENT IN FAVOR OF AN ISLAMIC STATE, HAVE BEEN BLAMED FOR THE KILLING SPREE. WHAT THESE COWARDS BELIEVE IS IRRELEVANT, HOWEVER. ANY GRIEVANCES THEY HAVE CAN BE DISCOUNTED BY THE WORLD COMMUNITY. HISTORY SHOWS THAT JUST CAUSES, AFTER ALL, PREVAIL WHEN BROUGHT TO LIGHT THROUGH WRITING, PROTESTS, STRIKES OR NON-VIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. THE WORLD SHOULD NOT ALLOW COWARDS TO ADVANCE A CAUSE THROUGH ACTS OF TERRORISM. THE ONLY ATTENTION SUCH PEOPLE DESERVE IS TO BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR HORRIBLE DEEDS." TEXT: YESTERDAY'S MASSACRE ELICITS THIS CONDEMNATION FROM "USA TODAY." VOICE: "APPARENTLY THE SLAYINGS HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH THE UNITED STATES' CURRENT SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ. THEY WERE JUST PART OF AN INCREASING INCLINATION BY TERRORISTS TO TARGET MASSES OF CIVILIANS. IN EGYPT, AS IN OTHER VICTIMIZED NATIONS, ATTACKING TOURISTS DELIVERS A DOUBLE BENEFIT TO TERRORISTS. FIRST, WORLDWIDE ATTENTION IS CALLED TO THEIR CAUSE. IN THIS CASE, EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES SUSPECT MUSLIM MILITANTS WHO HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TOPPLE PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK SINCE 1992. ..... SECOND, SCARING OFF TOURISTS CAUSES ECONOMIC DAMAGE THAT EXTENDS THE IMPACT OF THE TERRORISTS' ATTACK." TEXT: "THE BOSTON GLOBE," ALSO OUTRAGED, ADDS THAT EVEN WITH SUCH HORRIBLE INCIDENTS, AS IN THE EARLIER TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ISRAEL, AGAINST BUSSES OR CAFES IN SHOPPING AREAS, N O GOVERNMENT CAN GIVE IN TO TERRORIST VIOLENCE. VOICE: "GOVERNMENTS MUST STAND UP TO TERRORISTS AND OFTEN DO, BUT TOURISTS WITH MAPS AND CAMERAS ARE NO MATCH FOR ZEALOTS WITH MACHINE GUNS. ..... THE BLOODY STRIKE WAS A SHOCK TO THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH JUST TWO MONTHS AGO WAS ON THE VERGE OF DECLARING .... IT HAD WON ITS BATTLE AGAINST THE MILITANT MOVEMENT. ....[PRESIDENT] MUBARAK WILL HAVE TO RETIGHTEN HIS GOVERNMENT'S EFFORTS TO CONTROL THE TERRORISTS. ..... THE HUMAN TOLL OVERSHADOWS THE TERRIBLE IRONY OF AN ATTACK COMING AT A PLACE THAT REPRESENTED THE PINNACLE OF CIVILIZATION 4-THOUSAND-500 YEARS AGO." TEXT: WITH THOSE THOUGHTS FROM NEW ENGLAND'S LARGEST DAILY, WE BRING TO A CLOSE THESE EARLY RESPONSES FROM THE U-S PRESS TO THE LATEST TERRORIST ATTACK AGAINST TOURISTS IN EGYPT BY MILITANT ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS. NEB/ANG/EH 18-Nov-97 1:33 PM EST (1833 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .