June 5, 2016 11 News & Analysis Egypt

Cairo pursues a different tactic with EgyptAir crash

Gregory Aftandilian Why the change in attitude? First, because the plane took off from Paris and not from an Egyp- Washington tian airport, Egypt could point to possible security breaches at one of gypt’s official response the Europe’s most security-mind- to the disappearance ed transit hubs. In other words, if of EgyptAir flight 804 something was amiss, it was not the over the Mediterranean fault of Egypt. was that terrorism was Second, if a terrorist connec- Ethe likely cause, a sharp change tion occurred at the Paris airport, from the way Egyptian officials it shows that Egypt is not alone in responded to the crash of the Rus- the fight against terrorism. Egypt sian Metrojet in the Sinai last Octo- can point to terrorism as a global ber. The reasons for this change are problem and one that needs to be multifaceted. handled by the entire international When the Russian Metrojet went community. down October 31st in the Sinai shortly after take-off from Sharm el- If a terrorist Sheikh, Egyptian officials entered a connection occurred state of denial about the cause, de- at the Paris airport, it spite the Islamic State (ISIS) claim- shows that Egypt is ing responsibility for downing the not alone in the fight plane and terrorism experts from against terrorism. Russia, Britain and elsewhere say- ing ISIS was the likely culprit. Egypt was also quick in asking for It took the Egyptian government help from France and other coun- months to acknowledge the ISIS tries in scouring the eastern Medi- link to the attack. Egypt stuck to its terranean for the plane and the denial campaign in hopes that for- debris. This request for assistance eign tourists who spend millions of was not only an acknowledgement dollars in Egypt every year, particu- that other countries have more so- larly in the southern Sinai beach phisticated search equipment and An Egyptian journalist lights candles during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 resorts, would not be scared away. submarines but it helped with the in front of the Journalists’ Syndicate in Cairo, on May 24th. Egypt did not want to acknowledge narrative that terrorism is an inter- that there was a security breach at national problem. its airport. Third, Egyptian President Abdel sage of the Egyptian government. indirectly, for his or her livelihood. quickly blaming terrorism for the Fattah al-Sisi has been criticised at The rush to judgment about ter- Perhaps this is why the vice- crash. The rush to judgment home and abroad for his round-ups rorism as the cause of the crash has chairman of EgyptAir stated on May No matter what the reason, the about terrorism as the of protesters, journalists and other downsides, too. If the target was 24th, after body parts and debris downing of the EgyptAir plane has cause of the crash has critics of his regime. This criticism indeed EgyptAir, it makes the Egyp- were recovered from the Mediter- contributed to keeping Egypt’s has even come from Egypt’s friends tian national carrier vulnerable to ranean, that it was premature to de- tourism industry in the doldrums. downsides, too. in the United States and Europe. more terrorist attacks. clare that an explosion caused the This is most unfortunate in that the By pointing to terrorism as the By calling terrorism the most crash. He added: “Any high-velocity other sectors of Egypt’s economy Egyptian officials eventually culprit for the downing of EgyptAir likely reason for the downing of the impact leads to defragmentations are not doing very well, either. The came to reason that denying the 804, Cairo hopes to deflect atten- aircraft, it demonstrates that ter- and this is not indicative of what International Monetary Fund fore- obvious was foolhardy and did not tion from human rights allegations. rorists continue to target Egypt and caused the accident. Let’s not jump cast that Egypt’s economy will only prevent tourism cancellations. Also, the Egyptian government can its tourism industry, which has not to conclusions.” grow by 3.3% in 2016, down from By contrast, shortly after the May better make the argument to its own recovered from the downing of the The Egyptian government has 4.2% in 2015. 19th crash of EgyptAir 804 from citizens that it must remain tough Russian plane. also become more circumspect Paris to Cairo, Egyptian Minister against domestic critics because Tourism accounts for about 11% of about the incident, perhaps hoping Gregory Aftandilian is a lecturer in of Aviation Sherif Fathy declared the country faces a deadly terrorism Egypt’s gross domestic product and that the aircraft’s black box will be the Pardee School of Global Studies that terrorism was the likely cause problem. Thus, national unity — not it is estimated that one out of every recovered and reveal the true cause at Boston University and is a former even before any hard evidence was swipes against the government — is ten Egyptians is dependent on the and perhaps because it now has sec- US State Department Middle East found. what is called for now, in the mes- tourism industry, either directly or ond thoughts about its strategy of analyst. Police abuse fuels tensions in Egypt

Khaled Osama rate in protest, as family members, friends and sympathisers demand- ed justice. The officer was sentenced Cairo to life in prison on April 2nd by a criminal court. he killing by a policeman Khaled Okasha, a retired police of a flower seller on the lieutenant-general, said he was outskirts of Cairo after the frightened when he saw televised victim refused to give the reports. policeman money was not Tsurprising to many following the Sisi may be running conduct of Egypt’s police. huge risks if he ignores The 25-year-old victim will not police abuse. likely be the last, those people say, but only one episode in a series of “This was especially scary be- police violence. cause it coincided with other shows As he tries to impose law and or- of anger at the malpractices of some der, fix the economy and feed the policemen in other areas,” Okasha poor, Egyptian President Abdel said. “These malpractices can be Fattah al-Sisi little realises that the used by some political groups to most dangerous threat to his regime stoke up tension.” comes from the people who protect Tensions were already high in the government, namely police, es- parts of Cairo, including outside pecially low-ranking officers, whose the Medical Syndicate near Tahrir brutality has sparked angry protests, Square, where at least 10,000 doc- observers say. tors protested the beating of a col- Sisi may be running huge risks if league by a policeman at a northern he ignores police abuse. Cairo hospital. “This is why I have fears that The scenes were similar to demon- these violations will be understood strations that preceded the downfall as a reflection of the nature of the of former president Hosni Mubarak whole ruling system here,” said in 2011. The anti-Mubarak uprising Hafez Abu Saeeda, a rights activist. started as a show of anger against “There is an urgent need for reform abuses by Mubarak’s police, which before public anger reaches uncon- was why activists chose to make trollable levels.” Police Day, January 25th, the date Demonstrators besieging the Cairo Security Directorate on February 19th, a day after a policeman of their protests. When the protests killed a minivan driver in Cairo. Some observers say were met with force by police, they police are out of evolved into nationwide anger that No sooner had his comments been the head of the Cinema Syndicate, and threatened to escalate their control and that Sisi resulted in the burning of scores of made public than a long series of Ashraf Zaki, who said he saw the ac- anger and “scandalise” ministry of- cannot rein them in. police stations and attacks against new violations by police, including tress’s clothes soaked in urine. ficials. government offices. the beating of a doctor at a hospi- In late April, a police officer shot, “Anger is building up at these The killing of the flower seller was Sisi summoned Interior Minister tal in Alexandria and the beating of but did not kill, a minivan driver practices, which should function as similar to an incident in February Magdy Abdel Ghaffar for a meeting an actress at a police checkpoint in northern Cairo after a scuffle. a wake-up call for the president and when a policeman killed a minivan on February 19th and, according to Cairo, were reported. Some observers say police are out the government,” Abu Saeeda said. driver in the poor southern Cairo media reports, asked him to tough- The actress, Mirhan Hussein, ac- of control and that Sisi cannot rein “Antagonising one segment of soci- neighbourhood of Al Darb al-Ah- en penalties on officers who commit cused police of beating and groping them in. ety after another is very dangerous.” mar after they argued over the fare. crimes. her and even throwing urine on her Soon after Abdel Ghaffar prom- Thousands of people soon besieged Abdel Ghaffar promised to take when she was taken to a police sta- ised action against police violations, Khaled Osama is an Egyptian the nearby Cairo Security Directo- action against law-breaking police. tion. Her account was supported by low-ranking officers staged protests reporter based in Cairo.