The abduction of the 15 tourists, 5 of them Italians, which took place in Aswan, Southern Egypt, today, could have "major destabilising effects on the country". This was said to SIR by the vicar apostolic of Alexandria, mgr. Giuseppe Bausardo. "Tourism he explains is Egypt’s first economic source. If it collapses, five million people will lose their jobs, and this one important fact. Then, one must never forget that security affects other industries, not just tourism, but banks and hotels as well, even if the police do control and fight". Without going into the details of the event and whether it was committed by mere criminals or alleged terrorists, the vicar states that "a return to terrorism, which Egyptians had managed to defeat until now, would have destabilising effects on the whole country. I hope there is room for dialogue and negotiations to release all the abducted persons". It is not the first time tourists are attacked in Egypt: let’s just mention the massacres, with dozens of casualties, in the Queens’ Valley in Luxor in 1997, in Taba in 2004, and in Sharm al Sheik in 2005.
