ALEXANDRIA - The police have pushed ahead with their crackdown on gangs in Alexandria, arresting fugitives, suspects, hawkers and sellers of fireworks on the last day of Eid el-Fitr, which started on Tuesday. The latest arrests are part of a major sweep launched upon the orders of Minister of Interior Major-General Mansour el-Essawi. Alexandria, especially during the Feast, has a reputation for being a ‘fertile' firework-selling region ruled by outlaws, security sources said. During the Feast, many residents of Alexandria were up early in the morning for the festivities. In the meantime, the police beefed up security in a bid to prevent the usual array of Eid offences, including women being harassed in the public places in the city, such as parks, gardens and squares, a security source told The Egyptian Gazette. "In ensuring the security of the Eid revellers, we cannot afford to be lax or lenient; it's a big responsibility," the source said, adding that the police drew up a security plan to prevent any major incidents in Alexandria during the three-day feast. "To a great extent, this year's Eid has been trouble-free, except in the plush neighbourhood of Loran,” he stressed, vowing that the police were ready to deal with crowd congestion on the beaches and in the parks, which have enjoyed a vigorous revival over the past three days. Many families, armed with bags full of food and picnic baskets, frequented San Stefano Beach in their droves, enjoying the feast in a safe, open-air environment, the source, who asked not to be identified, continued. During the Feast, enthusiastic moviegoers moved from one Alexandria cinema house to another. Eid el-Fitr is the hot season for Egypt's cinema industry. This year, there is a limited choice of new local and foreign movies, but less censoring. "In Alexandria, the Feast is not the Feast if you don't go to a movie theatre and watch a new Eid film," said Rasha Magdi, the manager of San Stefano Shopping Mall, adding that revenues are expected to be a little bit lower because few cinema goers are attracted by the new, shoddy movies like El-Haram Street, Tick Tick Bom and Me or Him. “Egyptians between the age of 12 and 25 make up 80 to 90 per cent of the audiences at the picture houses. Young people like to go to the cinemas in groups of maybe 10, which generates a lot of revenue,” Rasha said. "Going to the cinema during the Feast undoubtedly has its charms," Nadir Ibrahim, a teenager, said. "During the Eid, my friends and I love to watch a good movie."
