Blast in Cairo Tourist Area...

Yesterday, while on the metro, on our way to a nice felucca ride on the nile with Shady, Sameh, Sammy and their swiss friends, Tamer called Tom to tell him not to go to Khan el Khalili, one of my favorite places in Cairo due to some explosion....

As soon as we got to the felucca place, we told Shady and Sameh, who immediately called all their aquaintances to get more info.......... We then discovered that there really was an expolosion in one of my favorite places in Cairo, and we were told that 4 people died!!!!

Tom and I were itching to know more, its annoying when you want info, you cannot read, and you cannot understand.....

Nevertheless, after an urgent paniked phone call from my mother very early this morning, I decided to find out more.....

According to what I have read, two tourists and the bomber were killed, and around 20pple were wounded, some in danger of death, when a bomb was thrown in the middle of a crowded market!!

The attack - in the old Islamic centre of Cairo, popular with tourists - is the first in the city for seven years. The attack happened close to al-Azhar mosque, which is a major seat of Islamic learning, it is infact where we often go for sheesha, or for lunch, or just for a stroll!!!!

This attack, might not be surprising as considering that Egypt had just arrested 45 members of the Muslim Brotherhood just over a week ago.

Thousands of riot police had blocked off parts of central Cairo in an apparent effort to stop demonstrators gathering for a protest called by the Muslim Brotherhood outside parliament.

Islamic militants in Egypt have staged attacks on tourist attractions in the past.
In the most recent attack in October, 34 people died when militants bombed several hotels in the Sinai peninsula.

In 1997 the country's lucrative tourism industry was thrown into crisis when gunmen opened fire on foreigners in central Cairo and at a site near the southern Egyptian city of Luxor.

However, it is still unclear whether this was a terrorist attack....

Aljazeera correspondent Lina al-Ghadban said some people thought that Thursday's blast might lead to an extension of the nation's state of emergency.

To stay or not to stay........