'We'll get them'
An Upper Egyptian vendetta consumes four more lives, including a groom on his wedding day. Reem Nafie reports from Beni Mohamed
The streets and alleyways of Beni Mohamed, a village near Assiut, are quiet. It had been more than a week since Mustafa Zeidan, 23 and his cousins Ashraf Abdel-Naim, 30 and Ahmed El- Husseini, 22, were killed in broad daylight on Zeidan's wedding day. The killers were their neighbours, members of a rival clan -- the Abul-Hassan.
The three young men were in a taxi heading to Zeidan's bride's house when machine gun fire rained down on them. The taxi driver -- Badawi Attallah, 40 -- was also killed. A friend of the family, Sayed Abdel-Rehim, 50, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, survived the attack, but is currently in the Assiut Hospital's Intensive Care Unit, diagnosed with serious brain damage.
On Tuesday, Hamada Thabet and Saad Abdel-Aal of the Abul-Hassan family were arrested, and are currently being investigated for their involvement in the murders, as well as for the illegal possession of automatic weapons.
Sparked by an argument over the use of the water supply that irrigated their respective plots of land, the tar, or vendetta, between the Zeidan and Abul- Hassan families began in 2000 with the death of an Abul-Hassan family member at the hands of a Zeidan. A few months later, an unidentified member of the Abul-Hassan clan killed a member of the Zeidan family in revenge. In October 2003, a Zeidan struck back, killing yet another Abul-Hassan.
Tar vendettas are deeply rooted in southern Egyptian tradition, with some feuds -- often linked to disputes over money and land -- lasting for more than half a century. " Al-Tar Wala Al-'Aar " (Vendetta is better than disgrace), is a common saying associated with these vendettas. Combined with the widespread possession of firearms, including automatic rifles, in Upper Egypt, family vendettas can sometimes turn into mass murders, as happened in Beni Mohamed last week.
A heavy police presence remains on the village streets, just in case the vendetta flares up again. The two families live opposite one another, owning adjacent land. Several women from the Zeidan clan are even married to men from the Abul-Hassan family.
When Al-Ahram Weekly visited the area, the Zeidan family was highly suspicious, and was initially reluctant to talk about what happened. Several Zeidan family members were holding automatic rifles, looking out the windows for any sign of an Abul-Hassan. The Abul-Hassan clan refused to speak to the Weekly altogether. Few family members had even dared to leave their houses since the incident.
"The taxi driver was not aware of the vendetta between the two families," said Mohamed Zeidan, a cousin of the dead groom. "The taxi was driving behind the zaffa [wedding procession], and it should have been in front of it, so the driver decided to take a short cut. The u-turn he took brought him right in front of an Abul-Hassan house. When they heard the zaffa, they came out of their house with their automatic rifles and shot at everyone in the car."
Zeidan's description of the event turned gruesome: "Mustafa was shot over 30 times in the head. The upper part was completely detached," he said.
In the ensuing pandemonium the killers escaped.
"You can imagine how the bride reacted when she heard the news," Zeidan said. All decked out in her wedding dress, she was waiting at home for her groom to arrive and the wedding ceremony to begin. "But the wedding was not meant to be, and the bride became a widow before even getting married," Zeidan said. They had already had their wedding officially registered.
Other Zeidan family members were equally devastated by their loss, unable to accept that their son had been killed on his wedding day. "The fact that they killed him before he got married is even worse," Zeidan said. "It is brutal and breaks all the laws of Upper Egypt."
Saad, a resident of Beni Mohamed, said, "everyone was shocked that he was killed on his wedding night." In Upper Egypt, it is unthinkable to kill someone while he is attending a wedding ceremony or a funeral, Saad explained. "The Abul-Hassan family has lost respect amongst the village's other families. By attacking all the people in the car, they have also added two families to the vendetta. The driver's family and the other man's family will also want their revenge," Saad said.
Mohamed Essawi, the Assiut prosecutor handling the case, agreed. "Unfortunately, this means that now two new families are included in this vendetta, in addition to the Zeidans," he said.
The driver's family, however, held a funeral for their fallen son on Monday, which means that they are not willing to start a feud with the Abul- Hassans. According to custom, if someone is killed as part of a vendetta, the family refuses to accept condolences until the deceased has been avenged.
The taxi driver's father, Mohamed Attallah, said his family was not willing to start "a new blood feud. We have accepted God's fate," Attallah said. He had heard, however, that the Zeidan clan itself was willing to avenge his son's death.
It seemed certain, in all cases, that the Zeidans would strike back for their own loss. "We will never allow our son's blood to be wasted like that," said Mohamed Zeidan. The deceased "was one of our finest; he had gotten a high school degree. They had better stay in their houses," Zeidan said, referring to the Abul-Hassan family, "because as soon as they leave, we'll get them."
