Where I Stand—Mike O’Callaghan: Tourists and writers face different dangers in Egypt

Monday, Dec. 1, 1997 | 10:18 a.m.

THE VIOLENT DEATH of 62 people -- all but four were foreign tourists -- has thousands of Egyptians now crying about the loss of money brought in by visitors. The tourism business of that interesting, but economically poor, nation has been shattered by radical Islamists spraying deadly gunfire into European tourists outside the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Luxor.

The terrorists have created the economic problems they want the Egyptian government to suffer. Just to make certain their message has been received by the rest of the world, the extremists promise more and deadlier attacks on foreigners coming to Egypt. There's no possible guarantee the government can prevent the promised attacks.

The Middle East style of terrorism belies the belief there is safety in numbers. This is the second recent massacre in Egypt where groups of tourists have been attacked and murdered. The other happened in front of Cairo's huge museum a short time ago. Long ago, I learned that traveling alone, or with no more than one other person. is the safest method of moving around in the Middle East or any other area of conflict. Individuals traveling in an inconspicuous manner is the safest way to enjoy places where others fear to roam. This doesn't do much for travel agencies or hotels that make money from groups seeking a change of scenery.

Nevadans can appreciate the financial pain the merchants and street vendors in Egypt must be feeling. If the flow of tourists dried up, the pain felt by Southern Nevadans would be severe. Let's hope the producers of nuke waste don't get their wish to dump their garbage at Yucca Mountain and we suffer such pain. All it would take would be a load of deadly waste and Murphy's Law to deliver the blow.

As a writer, I've found Egypt and some other Middle East countries having greater dangers than gunmen waiting for me. I take my brief notes in a style that is difficult for others to understand. Sometimes they are also difficult for me to transcribe if too many days lapse after writing them. Happily, I have the opportunity to bring my notes home and have my stories published without fear. Israel is the only country in that part of the world where I feel free to send back a column electronically.

The first several paragraphs of this column couldn't be published in Egypt because of restrictions on the press in that country. There, even authors of unpublished stories about attacks on tourists can be hauled into court and jailed.

Robert Fisk, writing in Great Britain's The Independent newspaper, tells us:

"It would be pleasant to believe that this is some kind of freak deviation from Egypt's much trumpeted (American-backed) democracy. Alas, no. Only last month, a Cairo court found six journalists from the Saudi-owned Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat guilty of libeling President Hosni Mubarak's two sons, Ala and Gamal, by claiming that both used their father's name for furthering business deals. Five of the reporters escaped imprisonment because they were outside of the country but the sixth, an Egyptian, received six months in jail.

"Oddly, the supposedly libelous article never appeared -- the Egyptians started proceedings on the basis of an advertisement in the paper for a story that was to appear in its sister magazine Al-Jedida. It was only after Asharq pulped 120,000 copies of the offending magazine, fired two journalists and issued a groveling apology that the unforgiving Egyptians took the journalists to court. Asharq, one of the most prestigious of Arab journals, then closed its Cairo office."

You can see why an American newspaper reporter should fear the government of Egypt more than that country's terrorists. America's warmest friend in the Arab world, King Hussein of Jordan, recently shut down 13 weekly newspapers. In Lebanon, 16 free-lance television stations have been cut down to only four that are owned by families of government officials. Even slight criticism of government can get you jail time in Tripoli, Tunis and the Gulf States. More than 50 journalists have been killed in Algiers during the past couple of years.

American and other foreign journalists should be able to travel safely throughout the Middle East. Returning home to express their critical observations can be viewed as a display of wisdom.