Editing History of Egypt (section)

=== Terrorist insurgency ===
{{Main|Terrorism in Egypt}}
In 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, terrorist attacks in Egypt became numerous and severe, and began to target [[Copts]] and foreign tourists as well as government officials.<ref name="Murphy.p.4">Murphy, Caryle ''Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: the Egyptian Experience'', Scribner, 2002, p.4</ref> Some scholars and authors have credited Islamist writer [[Sayyid Qutb]], who was executed in 1967, as the inspiration for the new wave of attacks.<ref name="Murphy.p.57">Murphy, Caryle ''Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: the Egyptian Experience'', Scribner, 2002, p.57</ref><ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''Muslim Extremism in Egypt'' by Gilles Kepel, English translation published by University of California Press, 1986, p. 74</ref>

The 1990s saw an [[Islamism|Islamist group]], [[al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya]], engage in an extended campaign of violence, from the murders and attempted murders of prominent writers and intellectuals, to the repeated targeting of tourists and foreigners. Serious damage was done to the largest sector of Egypt's economy—tourism<ref>"Solidly ahead of oil, Suez Canal revenues, and remittances, tourism is Egypt's main hard currency earner at $6.5 billion per year." (in 2005) [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/741/eg1.htm ... concerns over tourism's future] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924131816/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/741/eg1.htm |date=24 September 2013 }}. Retrieved 27 September 2007.</ref>—and in turn to the government, but it also devastated the livelihoods of many of the people on whom the group depended for support.<ref>[[Gilles Kepel]], ''Jihad'', 2002</ref>

Victims of the campaign against the Egyptian state from 1992 to 1997 exceeded 1,200<ref>[[Lawrence Wright]], ''[[The Looming Tower]]'' (2006), p.258</ref> and included the head of the counter-terrorism police (Major General Raouf Khayrat), a speaker of parliament ([[Rifaat el-Mahgoub]]), dozens of European tourists and Egyptian bystanders, and over 100 Egyptian police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/timeline_egypt.html |title=Timeline of modern Egypt |publisher=Gemsofislamism.tripod.com |access-date=2011-02-12}}</ref> At times, travel by foreigners in parts of [[Upper Egypt]] was severely restricted and dangerous.<ref>As described by [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] in his book ''From the Holy Mountain'' (1996, {{ISBN|0 00 654774 5}}) pp. 434–54, where he describes his trip to the area of [[Asyut]] in 1994.</ref> On 17 November 1997, [[Luxor massacre|62 people, mostly tourists, were killed]] near [[Luxor]]. The assailants trapped the people in the [[Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut]]. During this period, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya was given support by the governments of Iran and Sudan, as well as [[al-Qaeda]].<ref name="ucdp.uu.se">[[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]], ''Conflict Encyclopedia'', "The al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya insurgency," viewed 2013-05-03, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=50&regionSelect=10-Middle_East# {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911063455/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=50&regionSelect=10-Middle_East |date=11 September 2015 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2020}} The Egyptian government received support during that time from the United States.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se" />