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
.