CAIRO: As Thousands of Egyptians and Algerians fans flooded the Sudanese capital to watch the World Cup qualifier match, the game in which the Egyptian national team lost out to the Algerians 1-0, a media war and outrage sparked between both sides. The Sudanese capital witnessed an unprecedented number of alleged violent incidents and clashes between fans of both countries, where Egyptian reports claimed hundreds of Egyptian fans being attacked by the Algerian fans. Youtube was swamped with tons of videos showing Algerian supporters holding knives and chanting in the stadium, lashing out against Egyptians. The game resulted in a wave of tensions, hatred and violence between both nations, Facebook witnessed a war of groups following the match and both sides accused each other of violence and insulting each other. By midnight on Wednesday, Egypt reported a large number of Egyptian citizens and supporters were attacked by Algerian supporters and that Egyptians were critically injured. One Egyptian singer was quoted by local media as saying “Egyptian masses are trapped in the apartments of a group of Sudanese citizens after a number of Algerian fans blocked their way.†He added that “the Egyptian bus of the National Democratic Party that was allocated to transport fans from Cairo to Khartoum to watch the game, was attacked and Algerian fans smashed the windows of the bus.†Fans were seriously wounded and the bus carrying journalists and Egyptian artists was subjected to a similar attack after being trapped by Algerian fans who were holding weapons, but the Sudanese army took control of the situation and prevented any escalation in violence. However, clashes broke out between the Algerians and the Sudanese security services and military forces, although there were some 15,000 policeman and soldiers dedicated to securing the public and had been deployed before and after the game to the streets of Khartoum. The Egyptian ministry of health in turn, reported that 21 Egyptians have been injured on Wednesday night in Sudan. Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin, the official spokesman of the ministry, said that there were no deaths reported thus far and all the injured were taken to local hospitals. Shahin added the injuries ranged from suspected fractures, cuts, abrasions and bruises, denying that any deaths reported by media was false. Politically, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held an expanded meeting in his office around noon Thursday, with senior aides and statesmen. The meeting, as reported by the daily al-Dustour newspaper, seemed to be an urgent meeting of the National Security Council and was attended by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the Speaker of the People`s Assembly Fathi Sorour, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly and a number of other top government officials. On Thursday, Hossam Zaki, spokesman of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, said that Egypt had summoned the Algerian Ambassador Abdel Kader Hagar, as requested by President Mubarak, to protest the violent incidents in Sudan and to inform him of Egypt's “deep resentment of the attacks on the Egyptian citizens who went to Khartoum in order to encourage the Egyptian national team fans at the hands of the Algerians.†Egypt also expressed its anger and dismay at the continuing complaints and the cries of a large number of Egyptian citizens living in Algeria at what they are said is intimidation and aggression, in addition to what has happened to some properties of Egyptians living in Algeria, including the Egypt Air office. Hagar said that he regrets the recent tensions in Egyptian-Algerian relations as a result of the match, stressing that it is apparently moving toward further deterioration in spite of the efforts of diplomacy and attempts to prevent such a decline and that the recent events “does not suit the historical relations between Egypt and Algeria.†He denied his personal responsibility for what happened, saying that it is absurd to hear some media and TV Channels pointing the finger at the ambassador, while the ambassador still defends the historical amiable relations between Egypt and Algeria. The Egyptian foreign ministry confirmed that it also called back its Egyptian Ambassador in Algeria for consultation as the matter has raised fears of possible tensions between the two Arab nations. It also expressed Egypt’s strong dissatisfaction about what was described as a “media war†spurred by “foreign interventions.†The ministry said “it has the responsibility for the unfortunate events which followed the match and invited wise men in Egypt and Algeria to heal the wounds inflicted on the feelings of the two peoples.†On the other hand, a number of political activists, on Facebook, called protests in front of the Algerian Embassy in Egypt, in protest at the attacks on Egyptian fans. This resulted in widespread violence on Thursday night that saw police and fans injured and the Algerian Embassy burn. Others have called for peaceful sit-ins under the slogan “the dignity of the Egyptian people first†after Friday prayers in front of the famous Egyptian Mosque Mostafa Mahmoud in Mohandeseen, a middle-class area of Giza. Some human rights groups have condemned the attack on Egyptian fans and have created groups on Facebook in protest. “We don’t want to have our rights violated by Algerians,†the groups said, demanded messages be sent to FIFA asking them to punish Algeria and to oust them from participating in the World Cup. BM
