EGYPT: Church Bombings On Palm Sunday Kill 36

Bombings at two Egyptian churches killed more than 35 people as they gathered to mark Palm Sunday, officials said, in one of the deadliest recent attacks on the country's Coptic Christians.

The attacks on the Mar Girgis church in the city of Tanta north of Cairo and Saint Mark's Church in the coastal city of Alexandria came just weeks ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to show support for Egypt's large Christian minority.

Egyptian officials denounced the attack as an attempt to sow divisions in the country, while Francis sent his "deep condolences" to Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks but Egyptian Christians have repeatedly been targeted by jihadists including the Islamic State group.

The first blast killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 70 when it hit the church in Nile Delta City of Tanta, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Cairo, according to a health ministry toll.

Images broadcast by private television stations showed bloodstains smearing the whitewashed walls of the church next to shredded wooden benches.

"The explosion took place in the front rows, near the altar, during the mass," General Tarek Atiya, the deputy to Egypt's interior minister in charge of relations with the media, said.

The worshippers had been celebrating Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar, marking the triumphant entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem.

The second blast killed at least 11 people and wounded 35 at the church in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, according to the health ministry.

Tawadros had been attending a mass at the church but a Coptic Church official said he had left before the blast.

Francis, who is due to visit Cairo on April 28-29, offered prayers for the victims.

"Let us pray for the victims of the attack unfortunately carried out today," he said in an Angelus prayer. "May the Lord convert the heart of those who sow terror, violence and death and also the heart of those who make weapons and trade in them."

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt's population of more than 92 million and who celebrate Easter next weekend, have been targeted by several attacks in recent months.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

In December, a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed 29 worshippers during Sunday mass in Cairo. The bombing of the church within a compound that also holds the seat of the Coptic papacy was the deadliest attack against the minority in recent memory.

A spate of jihadist-linked attacks in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, including the murder of a Copt in the city of El Arish whose house was also burned, have led some Coptic families to flee their homes.

About 250 Christians took refuge in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya after IS released a video in February calling for attacks on the religious minority.

Reacting before the second bombing in Alexandria, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid called the attack in Tanta "a failed attempt against our unity".

"Terrorism hits Egypt again, this time on Palm Sunday," he tweeted.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail also condemned the attack, stressing Egypt's determination to "eliminate terrorism". The Cairo-based Al-Azhar, an influential Sunni Muslim authority, said it aimed to "destabilise security and the unity of Egyptians".

Egypt's Copts have endured successive attacks since Morsi's ouster in July 2013. More than 40 churches were attacked nationwide in the two weeks after the deadly dispersal by security forces of two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on August 14, 2013, Human Rights Watch said.

Amnesty International later said more than 200 Christian-owned properties were attacked and 43 churches seriously damaged, adding that at least four people were killed.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as then army chief helped remove Morsi, has defended his security forces and accused jihadists of attacking Copts in order to divide the country.

In October 2011, almost 30 people mostly Coptic Christians were killed after the army charged at a protest outside the state television building in Cairo to denounce the torching of a church in southern Egypt.

In May that year, clashes between Muslims and Copts left 15 dead in the working-class Cairo neighbourhood of Imbaba where two churches were attacked.

A few months earlier, the unclaimed bombing of a Coptic church killed more than 20 people in Egypt's second city of Alexandria on New Year's Day.

Egypt To Develop Tourism In Collaboration With UNWTO

Egyptian Ministry of Tourism signed a cooperation protocol with the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to provide technical and political support to the sector, according to Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou.

The ministry requested UNWTO provide the Egyptian government with experts on crises management. “The organisation has approved our request and experts are currently writing their reports on Egyptian tourism,” Zaazou said.

The support will not be limited to the current stage but will rather extend to penning an entire development plan for the sector.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with international tourism experts Tuesday, according to Zaazou. During the meeting, the president and experts agreed on an initial strategy that relies on four aspects; security, historical tourism, establishment of a new ministerial committee, and promoting the advantages of the Egyptian tourist destination around the world.

Egypt will pledge to provide security to visitors of tourist resorts and commit to providing maximum safety at international standards. Zaazou said $32m will be used to attain the latest security systems and protocols.

The Egyptian government has contracted with Control Risks Company to evaluate and review procedures of securing Egyptian airports. The company began its work in early February with Sharm El-Sheikh Airport and then Marsa Alam Airport.

The second aspect related to historical tourism will make use of the treasure and monuments Egypt has, which will be used to attract more tourism. The government also plans to establish a ministerial committee headed by Zaazou to put a strategy to develop the sector with help of international experts.

Penn, Schoen, and Berland Associates, US conducted a study in January on Egyptian tourism destinations in seven international markets, which revealed that 61% of tourists considered Egypt as a main spot they plan to visit. Egyptian tourism revenue fell last year to $6.1bn from $7.3bn during the previous year.

Secretary General of UNWTO Taleb D. Rifai said the organisation will not only provide Egyptian tourism with technical support but will also provide political support by making touristic experiences from other tourism countries available to Egypt. “Despite the crises in the Middle East, tourists are expected to continue visiting the region,” Rifai said. “The flow might drop in one country but will be offset by an increase in another.”

Some 1.2 billion people moved worldwide for tourism purposes in 2015, of which 5.5-6% visited the Middle East. This ratio is expected to amount to 125m people by 2030, according to Rifai who expects the number of tourists to increase by 3% globally by the end of 2016.

UNWTO will draw a study on the Chinese market to support the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism since the market has been growing in recent years. The number of tourists arrivals to Egypt from China increased to 215,000 people in 2015 versus 115,000 in 2014.

EGYPT: Egypt Hopes Of Tourism Revival Expensive

Tourism in Sharm al-Sheikh was picking up again after years of political turmoil, with so many Russians enjoying the sun and fun that local beach aerobics instructors used the visitors’ own language rather than Arabic or English.

Life was at last starting to look good for residents of the Red Sea resort, but that was before an airliner taking Russian tourists home broke up over the Sinai Peninsula, where Islamic State militants suspected of planting a bomb on the plane are waging an insurgency.

Now the future looks grim for thousands of Egyptians, from taxi drivers to diving instructors, who flocked to Sharm al-Sheikh to find jobs. One tour company official predicted holidays might now have to be discounted by up to 50 percent.

“I have been working in Sharm for three years but this is the first time I have ever seen it so empty,” said Ahmed Rabie. He spoke outside the cafe he runs in Naama Bay, at the resort’s heart. Chairs were stacked on tables and not a single person was sitting inside.

“Right now, all these cafes and restaurants would be full.”

Rabie pays 30,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,700) a month to rent the space, in addition to operational costs.

He said many small business owners had shut up shop after Western governments announced that the Airbus 321 was likely brought down by a bomb and then suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh, with Russia following suit.

“We are waiting for two or three days to see what happens but if it keeps on like this we will shut down and leave,” he said.

With low prices, cheap package deals and plenty of hotel rooms, Sharm al-Sheikh was a driving force behind Egypt’s efforts to lure back visitors.

It was starting to buzz.

Then the Russian plane crashed, with Islamic State claiming it was responsible. This immediately alarmed Egyptians, acutely aware of how vulnerable tourism is to such violence.

On Nov. 17, 1997 Islamic militants descended on Queen Hatshepsut’s temple near the Nile town of Luxor. In short order they shot or hacked to death 58 tourists and four Egyptians.

The following January and February, visitor numbers were down almost 60 percent from the previous year. The industry staged a remarkable comeback, but it took years.

Last month, Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said tourism — a pillar of the economy — expected moderate growth this year with the aid of a global advertising campaign.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has restored some stability since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule, but not enough to persuade large numbers of foreigners that it is safe to return.

Last year, 9.9 million tourists visited Egypt, a far cry from the 14.7 million who came in 2010, the year before the Arab Spring revolutions convulsed the Middle East.

An official at Sharm Travel Solutions, a British-owned Sharm al-Sheikh tour company, said holidays in the resort could be discounted by up to 50 percent if they can be sold at all.

“They may sell these holidays at half price but with flights suspended will anyone buy them?” the official said.

Other tour operators are offering holidays to Sharm al-Sheikh with price cuts of up to 200 pounds ($300).

A walk through Naama Bay reveals idle establishments, all with Russian signs to cater to the resort’s largest clientele.

The resort’s famous beaches fare only slightly better, with most just half full.

The prospect of a sharp decline in tourism receipts has left many scrambling to make sense of the sudden air disaster. Some are in denial.

“There are invisible foreign hands behind this,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz, who runs a safari trip business.

“Egypt lies in a strategic location and other countries are spiteful of this. Sharm is very safe, the police are even sometimes unfair to us to make sure it is safe for all guests.”

Many tourists interviewed agreed that Sharm al-Sheikh felt safe. Airport security was the problem, not the resort itself.

“Personally I felt sorry for Sharm as a resort when I heard about the plane crash. I’ve been here 14 times and I’ve never had a problem,” said British holidaymaker Vini Kneale.

If it turns out a bomb brought down the Russian plane, however, it would “discourage me from coming back,” he said.

THEY WANT THE AIRPORT

The crash is a blow to an already battered Sharm al-Sheikh tourism scene, said taxi driver Mohamed Odei.

“No one used to come here except the fat cats, people with thick wallets. Now if a tourist wants a budget holiday, they come here. And even that is coming to an end.”

Airport security was the main concern that drove British Prime Minister David Cameron to suspend flights to Sharm al-Sheikh. New regulations are now in place but for many it is too late.

“Egyptians don’t search well until there is a catastrophe.” says Odei, driving his taxi through a checkpoint outside the airport. Policemen with assault-rifles and soldiers circle his car, checking the trunk and his documentation.

Odei, originally from the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, has been working in Sharm al-Sheikh for seven years. He initially ran a restaurant but was forced to shut it down in 2005 after a suicide bomber attacked a market place and a hotel.

He noticed a sharp drop in passengers after flights were suspended.

“We now get maybe 30 percent of the passengers we usually get, and they all want to go to the airport,” he said. “I have never seen such crowds at the departure gate before, usually it’s the arrivals one.”

EGYPT: Metrojet Black Box Indicates Bomb Brought Down Plane

Black box data from the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt last week indicate it was bombed, sources said, ahead of a first update Saturday from the Egyptian-led probe into the disaster.

Both the flight data and voice recorders failed 24 minutes after the plane took off from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort en route to Saint Petersburg on October 31, when it plummeted from the sky into the Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 people on board.

Cairo and Moscow initially dismissed a claim Islamic State (IS) jihadists downed the plane, but mounting evidence that the Airbus A321 was attacked has prompted a growing list of governments to warn against travel to Sharm el-Sheikh.

On Friday, President Vladimir Putin ordered all Russian flights to Egypt halted, in a fresh blow to the country's already struggling tourism industry.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told news agencies the measure did not mean Moscow believed the crash -- the worst aviation disaster in Russia's history -- was due to an attack, and the investigation continued.

The head of Russia's emergencies ministry said Russian experts had taken samples from the crashed jet and were testing it for any traces of explosives.

But a source close to the investigation said the black box data "strongly favours" the theory a bomb on board brought down the plane.

Another person close to the case in Paris said the plane had suffered "a violent, sudden" end, saying: "Everything was normal during the flight, absolutely normal, and suddenly there was nothing."

Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal and the head of the Egyptian-led investigation into the disaster are to hold a news conference at 1500 GMT on Saturday, the ministry confirmed.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's office said he called Putin and they agreed to bolster coordination to "strengthen security measures for Russian planes".

Nearly 80,000 Russian tourists are estimated have been stranded in Egypt by their government's decision to halt flights.

Britain on Friday lifted its block on flights out of Sharm el-Sheikh but just 1,200 of the estimated 20,000 Britons who were holidaying in the resort managed to get home.

There were angry scenes as thousands more who had hoped to fly home were sent back to their hotels after Egypt placed restrictions on the number of repatriation flights.

Those that did get out were forced to leave their check-in baggage behind to be transported separately after London ordered airlines to allow hand luggage only.

Egypt's aviation minister said the restrictions on flights were imposed because the airport could not cope with all the luggage left behind.

"I think a lot of people will question whether they ever want to go to Egypt again," said human resources manager Nicky Bull, as she arrived back in Britain on board one of the eight flights that made it out.

Ben Khosravi, 27, who was another of the flights, said: "The security at Sharm was horrendous.

"It was quite worrying how easy you could get through,you could pay people money to fast track it."

Washington said it would step up security screenings of US-bound flights from some Middle East airports as a precaution.

Tourism Industry Affected

IS said it downed the plane in retaliation for Russian air strikes in Syria, but has provided no details as to how.

If it was behind the attack, it would be the first time the jihadists, who control large areas of Syria and Iraq, have hit a passenger plane.

US President Barack Obama has said that Washington is "seriously" considering the possibility of a bomb aboard the plane, while British premier David Cameron told reporters it was "more likely than not that a terrorist bomb" caused the crash.

Egypt has beefed up security at airports to "give confidence to the British government, but that does not mean we concur with any scenario," foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.

The crash has the potential to deeply damage Egypt's tourism industry, still struggling to recover from a turbulent four years following its 2011 revolution.

Once a remote beach on the edge of the Red Sea, Sharm el-Sheikh has grown into the jewel of Egypt's tourism industry, with dozens of luxury hotels and night life attracting tourists from around the world.

The town attracted on average three to four million tourists a year before the 2011 popular uprising that ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak.