THE latest terrorist outrage in Egypt confirms the theory that the war against terrorism is going to be long and hard — not because Osama Bin Laden has got himself more weapons or a secure base to operate from, but because nuts have got into the act. When psychopaths with a congenital need to kill delude themselves into believing that they have a mission to make the world a better place, the weapons they choose are bombs and massacre. That is why it will be a long battle. There are too many nuts around.
The explosive device that went off in Cairo Thursday was packed with nails. It is suspected that among the three dead was the bomber himself, his body riddled with nails when it seems the bomb went off prematurely. The explosion took place in a narrow crowded street close to the Al-Azhar Mosque, a famous seat of learning. Though some tourists do come to this ancient part of Cairo and indeed the other two dead were an American and a French woman, this part of the capital does not form part of the traditional itinerary for most tourists, who come to the country to see its remarkable Pharaonic past.
This was the first attack in Cairo in seven years. That this bombing took place in the capital suggests that the terrorists have decided it has become too risky to mount attacks in more popular tourist areas. The sites of past outrages since the campaign began in 1997 — Luxor and the Sinai Peninsula — are now well patrolled by both police and army. Cairo however has always been a harder target to protect, though any recent visitor to the city will note with what vigilance police seek to guard and patrol the streets and main buildings. It may thus be a sign of the desperation of the men of violence that they have switched their targets to Cairo but on past evidence they are going to find their renewed terror campaign difficult to pursue in the crowded capital. The people of Cairo want nothing to do with militant campaigns and desire nothing more than to get on with their lives in peace. It can therefore be expected that the forces of law and order will already be receiving a flow of reports on suspicious behavior from citizens alert to the dangers that have returned to their city. The anger felt by ordinary people is clearly the greater because it was against ordinary people that Thursday’s bomb outrage was also targeted, not simply against foreign tourists whom Egyptians welcome in their hundreds of thousands every year.
The wider danger is that as Egypt moves cautiously toward multiparty politics and students demonstrate for reforms, the authorities may be tempted to put a brake on developments because of instability engendered by renewed terrorism. Such a temptation should be resisted. The evil men who have planned murderous attacks in Egypt represent no legitimate political movement, merely their own sick notions that they can make a difference by massacring and maiming innocent people. They disgust ordinary Egyptians and their wickedness should not be allowed to impede political developments in the country.
