Egypt tourism minister quits over governor row

A protester carries stones in one hand and a bottle in the other as he kneels in front of burning tyres outside the governorate building in Luxor yesterday.

AFP/CairoEgypt’s tourism minister resigned in protest yesterday after President Mohamed Mursi appointed a new governor for Luxor from an Islamist party linked to a massacre of holidaymakers in the temple city. Hesham Zazou said he “cannot continue in the role of tourism minister” a day after the appointment of Adel al-Khayat, a member of the political arm of ex-Islamic militant group Gamaa Islamiya, and other Islamist governors triggered unrest in several provinces. Gamaa Islamiya claimed responsibility for an attack on a major tourist attraction in the southern city of Luxor that killed 58 foreign tourists in 1997. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil refused to accept Zazou’s resignation and asked him to remain in his post until the situation is reviewed, ministry spokeswoman Rasha al-Azaizy told the official Mena news agency. But she said Zazou insisted he would cease to work “as long as the new governor remains in his post, greatly harming tourism in Egypt generally and in Luxor specifically”. President Mursi named Khayat along with 16 other new governors on Sunday, including seven from his Muslim Brotherhood movement. Apart from its symbolic implications, Khayat’s appointment deals a blow to the once-lucrative tourism industry struggling to recover after the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Khayat belongs to the Construction and Development party, the political arm of Gamaa Islamiya which was blamed for a spate of attacks in the 1990s before it renounced violence. In statements to the media, he said his first priority as governor would be to “ensure the return of tourists” to Luxor. But a coalition of opposition groups, trade unions and tourism workers has threatened to close down all Pharaonic temples and tourist attractions should Khayat remain in the post. The groups called for the cancellation of the appointment “of a governor with a religious background in a tourist city” otherwise “all historic areas and pharaonic sites will be closed down”. On Tuesday, clashes erupted in several cities of the Nile Delta following protests against the appointments, leaving 26 people injured. In Tanta, police fired teargas to break up clashes between protesters demanding the ouster of new governor Ahmed al-Beely—a member of the Brotherhood—and his supporters. In Menufiya, dozens pursued a sit-in outside the governorate headquarters demanding the removal of governor Ahmed Shaarawy, also a member of the Islamist group. “The governorate has always voted against the Brotherhood, in all elections and referendums, so appointing a Muslim Brotherhood governor is a provocation,” one of the protesters, Mahmoud Kamal, said by telephone.