Unanswered questions

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The identification by the security forces of the young man who carried out the bomb attack last Thursday in Cairo which left three tourists dead revealed that the man hailed from Shubra Al-Kheima, an impoverished area north of Cairo. His mother, brothers and others languish in jail, imprisoned on suspicion of being accomplices.

Thursday's bomb attack was the first such incident in the capital for seven years. It brought back unhappy memories of a far more politically unsettled time in the early and mid-1990s when a wave of terrorist attacks by Islamist militants targeted Egypt's lucrative tourist industry.

The authorities are well-aware of the need to contain any damage to tourism, one of Egypt's main sources of income. Last week's attack, in which a French and US citizens were killed and at least 17 others injured, came in the wake of a record number of visitors to Egypt.

Last week's attack also brought to mind the Taba bombings that rocked Sinai last October. Then, militant Islamists were also blamed for the blasts that claimed 34 lives, among them several Israelis.

There are those who warn that US and Israeli aggression against Arabs and Muslims -- in particular the people of Iraq and Palestine -- is to blame for the current wave of violence. And it is true, anti-Western sentiment is growing because the US and Israel have stepped up their aggression against Arab and Muslim civilians. Young people, in particular, seek ways to respond to what they see as a brutal assault on their culture and communities.

But the authorities must also realise that there are socio- economic reasons behind these acts of terrorism. Indeed, investigators are quoted as saying that their initial inquiries suggest the suspect had no links with any militant groups. The blasts must not be used as a pretext for reneging on political reform or for prolonging emergency laws.

The Al-Azhar bomber who used a crude, homemade device packed with nails was a promising university student who had a couple of years to go before graduating from the engineering department of Benha University. A previously unknown Islamic group has claimed it was behind the blast though Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, the group behind attacks on tourists in the 1990s, has since renounced violence and condemned the attack.

There are millions of young unemployed in Egypt. In their frustration and hopelessness they are easy prey for religious extremists. The Al-Azhar blast is a warning sign: instead of squashing reform the authorities must address the many problems facing Egypt's young. They must speed up the process of political reform.