Protests greet Mohammad Mursi’s man in Luxor

Cairo: Hundreds of Egyptians have started a sit-in in the ancient city of Luxor, whose economy depends on tourism, to protest Islamist President Mohammad Mursi’ appointment of an ultra-Islamist as the city’s governor.

The protesters, including many of Mursi’s opponents and tourism employees, say they will not end the sit-in outside the city hall in Upper Egypt until the new governor, Adel Asa’ad, is replaced.

Asa’ad belongs to the Jamaa Islamiya, a group accused of killing 62 people mostly Western and Japanese tourists in an attack at Queen Hatshepsut’s temple in Luxor in 1997.

“This appointment shows that Mursi is not interested in reviving tourism in Luxor, which has almost one-third of the world’s antiquities,” Hazem Jamal, a tourist guide in Luxor, told Gulf News by phone.

“How can we expect tourists to come to Luxor when they know that the new governor is a member of a group that was involved in killing foreigners?” he added. “Besides, Jamaa Islamiya prohibits tourism and brands antiquities as idols. This is the last nail in the coffin of tourism in Luxor.”

Tourism in Luxor has been hard hit by the instability that has gripped Egypt since a popular uprising led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak as president more than two years ago.

Asa’ad, 62, was detained for one year following the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat by militants in 1981.

In an interview with the private Dream TV late on Sunday, Asa’ad dismissed claims that he has an anti-tourism agenda. “I do not harbour any radical ideas and realise well that Luxor is a governorate with a special cultural and archaeological nature.”

Luxor, located some 750 kilometres south of Cairo, is described as the world’s biggest open-air museum due to its wealthy of monuments including the Valley of Kings and the Karnak Temple.

Asa’ad, an architect by profession, added that fears about his political background are “unjustified”. “I’ll work out an effective plan to put tourism back on track in Luxor, as tourism earns Egypt billions of hard currency. I’ll seek to promote all kinds of tourism, including that coming from Iran.”

Salafists in Egypt have recently held a series of protests against allowing Iranians to visit the country, expressing worries that Iran will use the trips to promote Shiite influences in predominantly Sunni Egypt.

Asa’ad appeared at a televised swearing-in on Monday having no beard unlike most Islamists. His appointment came as part of a controversial shake-up unveiled on Sunday in which seven members of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood as well as several sympathisers were named as new provincial governors. The secular-minded opposition has slammed the appointments as part of an alleged plan by the Brotherhood to tighten its hold on power. “Once again, the regime sends a message to the people that it is not ready to respond to their demands,” said opposition leader Amr Mousa. “This is a political escalation ahead of June 30.”

The opposition, which accuses Mursi of misruling the country, is preparing for massive protests on June 30, which marks the first anniversary of his presidency.