This article from one of the leading English-language Egyptian papers highlights Egyptian forensic reports of the Hussein bomb. The reports indicate that the bomb which detonated had been left under a bench in Al-Hussein Square, and was not thrown from a overlooking window or rooftop. In addition, details are provided of the composition of the device.

The report stated that the bomb, which weighed in at between half a kilo and 750 g was comprised of two canisters placed inside a plastic water cooler. It was detonated with a timer taken from a washing machine. The bomb was filled with gunpowder and rocks.

I am neither a forensics nor a bomb expert, but this seems pretty rudimentary to me. In addition, the article notes that

Authorities are attempting to trace the origins of the gunpowder used in the bomb, which forensic reports indicated were of the type used for fireworks used during the Eid festivities. Police are questioning fireworks manufacturers in Izbet Abu Hashish and Manshiyet Nasser. The bomb was filled with gunpowder and rocks.

If one were in Cairo on Eid after sundown, one would hear a never ending symphony of what sounds like gunshots or small explosions — thousands of children playing with homemade fireworks which they purchase for less than a dollar, and which of course contain gunpowder. I would assume the government is investigating other possibilities which are not mentioned in the article, but I would not be surprised if the questioning of the fireworks manufacturers does not prove to be terribly fruitful.

Yesterday the acting spokesperson for the State Department emphatically stated what Dennis Ross will not be doing:

Let me be clear, he’s not an envoy. He will not be negotiating. He’ll be working on regional issues. He will not be – in terms of negotiating, will not be involved in the peace process. But again, he is going to be advising the Secretary on long-term strategic issues across the region.

…Mr. Ross will be charged with: trying to integrate policy development and implementation across a number of offices and officials in the State Department. And, you know, he is going to be providing the Secretary with strategic advice.

This seems like quite a demotion for a man who ran the Peace Process for President Clinton and headed Policy Planning, the influential in-house think tank at the State Department. The spokesperson’s words seem too strong to have been a slip-up, and so we are left to wonder: how did Secretary Clinton convince Mr. Ross to join her department in such a seemingly inconsequential capacity?

The Egyptian Stock Exchange’s main index rose a bit over 1% today, one day after a terrorist attack targeted tourists in Cairo. Perhaps investors judge the attack an aberration and are confident that the government will stabilize the situation and reassure tourists. On the other hand, investors could be responding to a $10B bond purchase by the U.A.E. that some believe will raise confidence in regional economies.

We’ll be watching Egypt’s Travel and Leisure index, which surprisingly gained on today’s trading.

(By Matthew Axelrod and Joseph Simons)

Here’s a first-blush report on yesterday evening’s bombing in Cairo:

The attack targeted a café in a tourist area and was clearly aimed at foreigners. The bombs were rudimentary, which means they were either manufactured by amateurs or perpetrators posing as amateurs.

Mainstream Egyptian media and a number of Egyptian bloggers have posed two possible motives for the bombing: (1) a violent response to the government’s controversial handling of the Gaza issue, or (2) a cynical move by regime forces to manufacture a need for a continued Emergency Law (set to be reviewed next month).

The first is the more likely of the two motives. There was widespread dissent over Egypt’s refusal to open the Rafah Border to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza during Israel’s assault last month. With Gaza as an immediate cause, this bombing could be an attempt to punish the Egyptian regime by attacking one of its major revenue sources and by challenging its monopoly on power. The aim would be to remind the government that there are real consequences for its unpopular actions. It would also demonstrate that restricting political avenues for dissent opens the path the violence.

As for the cynical motive, we doubt that the Egyptian Government or its hardline elements would condone attacking foreigners. Any move on their behalf to justify a new Emergency Law would not put such an important economic sector at risk.

But who did it? The Egyptian opposition paper Al-Dustour argues that the attack was not the work of a professional, organized group but rather of a “small group,” as the bombs used were basic and easy to assemble. Indeed, the majority of jihadi/terrorist groups operating in Egypt have either been neutralized or have renounced violence.

We’d also like to point out how quickly the news of the attack spread in at least one part of the Egyptian community, those bloggers and expats using services like Twitter. Read a great account of it here.

The Egyptian-run “Egyptian Chronicles” blog, also has some interesting thoughts about the attack and about some of what the government has been saying about who might be responsible.

A bomb went off about an hour ago in downtown Cairo near the Hussein Mosque in the popular tourist area near the open air market Khan Al-Khalili. Major news sources have reported that at least one person, a French tourist, has been killed. The Egyptian Ministry of Health has only reported up to 15 injured, including 3 Saudis and 2 French citizens. Most of the injuries, according to the MOH, were light. Government security forces and ambulances were on the scene quickly.

Eyewitnesses said that 2 bombs, only one which detonated, were thrown from the top of a building near a cafe.

The area was targeted before in 2005 as were other popular tourist destinations in the Sinai.

The Egyptian government has of course been facing intense criticism lately for its handling of the Gaza situation and for continuing its relations with Israel.

We will continue to provide updates.

Alexandria is truly something special. Egypt’s finest national museum is housed in a villa there, nearby a stunning opera house nestled almost imperceptibly between courtyards of the city’s streets. The seaside cafes serve the best cappuccinos in the country and the no-frills fish restaurants need no enhancement. Alexandria marks itself with tasteful elegance.

Add to that elegance the long-awaited opening of the Royal Jewel Museum. Details are scarce, but if the presentation rates as well as Alex’s other museum or as the royal silver on display at Abdin Palace in Cairo, then the museum will be a perfect fit.

Yesterday Ayman Nour was released from prison. Mr. Nour, Egypt’s most famous secular opposition politician, was imprisoned several years ago after performing a bit too well in the first multi-party presidential elections. Ostensibly jailed for forging a few hundred petition forms supporting his candidacy, Mr. Nour’s arrest effectively dampened a cautiously optimistic mood amongst established political reformers in Egypt. His arrest did not completely blot out activism, as a dismal economy, rising food prices, and vast underemployment sparked a large number of strikes in the past couple of years. Add to that the activism of political neophytes through new mediums like Facebook and Egypt has seen a relatively vibrant political life unfold, met with even more vociferous responses from the coercive apparati of the government. Nevertheless, the imprisonment of Ayman Nour likely deterred some establishment figures with more at stake personally and professionally from agitating too boldly.

A few days before President Obama’s inauguration, some foreign diplomats were reporting rumors from Nour partisans that on January 21 President Mubarak would release Ayman Nour as a slight to Bush and an olive branch to Obama. This is clearly an America-centric point of view, but in this case it may have some credence. The Government already made its point to secular would-be opposition figures, Ayman Nour’s political party is in shambles (there was actually a fire-bomb fight between political party factions a few months ago resulting in the destruction of the party headquarters), and aside from the elite opposition press (where he has been publishing a several-times weekly column from prison) he doesn’t have much of a local following (much less, in fact, than the Muslim Brotherhood, whose leaders are still routinely imprisoned and intimidated). Assuming that Ayman Nour’s health really is deteriorating and given that the government would not want him to fall seriously ill while imprisoned, now seems like an ideal time for release. It mends some fences with activists in Egypt after the government’s unpopular response to Gaza, and it makes life in Washington easier for Egypt and those who support the importance of the strategic relationship over Egypt’s slow pace of political reform. Plus, if Obama is eyeing Cairo as his first stop on a Muslim World tour, Egypt looks a lot more attractive.

Traffic accidents in Egypt continue to be a major problem as over 30 people have been killed and scores injured on the roads just this month. Official estimates place the number of deaths resulting from road accidents in Egypt at around 6000 to 8000 per year with tens of thousands of injuries. In August 2008, the government began to implement a new traffic law in an attempt to alleviate some of Egypt’s traffic problems, including banning the use of cell phones without headsets, requiring taxi drivers to wear seatbelts (which they usually only do when they see a policeman, and even then often just sling the belt over themselves without securing it), and fines for driving on the wrong side of the road. It is not clear after driving around the streets of Cairo that the new law has had any real effect.

Traffic problems in Egypt are a result of human error but also of legal and physical deficiencies. Poor urban planning and poorly maintained roads lead to congestion, speeding, and dangerous conditions. Licenses can be bought with bribes meaning a lack of driver education, and many vehicles are not properly maintained. There is overcrowding on public transportation and especially on minibuses, which are often packed to the brim with passengers and driven by young, inexperienced drivers.

In December of last year, a speeding, overcrowded bus plunged into a canal in the town of Minya, south of Cairo, killing upwards of 60 people. It was one of the worst traffic accidents in recent Egyptian history. A quick look at Egypt’s daily newspapers reveals a steady stream of accidents at about a rate of 1-2 per month at least in the past six months, resulting in not only injuries but often deaths. And these are only the accidents which are reported.

Egyptians are of course upset about traffic conditions and the state of transportation in their country and some of the blame should surely fall on their own shoulders–after all they are the ones driving the vehicles. But this issue also points to larger problems such as government negligence, or its inability, to properly take care of its citizens and keep them safe on the roads. The government has made an effort to provide a stronger police presence on certain major highways, but the patrols are limited and the egregious disregard of the law has made its implementation difficult. Corruption, as usual, is also a problem. For example, the new traffic law stipulates that drivers must carry reflective “stop” triangular signs and first aid kits, but there have been problems supplying these to drivers, some news reports claim, as a result of “businessmen vying to supply them and in the process make a healthy profit.”

In addition, the majority of deadly accidents take place not in downtown Cairo but in the city’s outskirts or in more suburban or rural areas (read “poor areas”). On the road out to the AUC campus in New Cairo, day-laborers get rides to and from work piled into the backs of pickup trucks and minibuses going as fast as the Enterprise at warp 9. It is also not surprising to see people riding on the blades of bulldozers.

In another example, truck drivers have gone on strike protesting a new addition to the traffic law which would ban the use of certain large trailers as of January 2011. The government claims these trailers cause a disproportionate number of traffic accidents per year and must be taken off the road, despite the crucial role their services play in Egypt’s economy. The drivers, of course, see this as an attack on their livelihood and the issue has caused a spike in the price of cement and other goods in Egypt.