CAIRO - Security is something that every Egyptian wants. In el-Nahda district near Madinat el-Salam in Cairo, Sayyed Hassan, whose shop sells fruits and vegetables complains that he has to pay protection money to thugs. “When I opened my shop, a thug came up to me and congratulated me, then told me to pay him a ‘royalty' of LE100 [nearly $17],” he says. Yasmine Khalaf, who also owns a clothes shop in the same district, calls for better security, especially as there are a number of youth projects in operation in el-Nahda. “These bullies keep forcing us to pay them money. We have to work more than18 hours a day to survive,“ he says. Another man called Mohamed Zeidan was planning to open a Khan Khalili-style bazaar in Madinat el-Salam, but he has changed his mind because of the thugs. “The lack of security in el-Nahda and Madinat el-Salam means that the thugs can extort money from us. If we refuse to pay, they smash up our shops and steal our goods,” says Ahmed Younis, who sells copperware. Meanwhile, Sobhi el Halawani couldn't open the store he was given by the Youth Employment Body because of the bullies threatening him. He went to the police, but they have done nothing. Nasser Farag has had an extra, iron gate installed in front of his front door, to keep out the thieves and thugs who break into people's homes at night. Amani Hashem, a housewife, notes that the thugs are now targeting schools, harassing the female pupils; many parents are no longer letting their girls go to school. Sayyed Sultan, a civil servant, says that, because of the absence of the police from the streets, many vendors are now selling guns and other weapons from their kiosks, not just cigarettes, snacks and soft drinks. According to an anonymous police source, the Ministry of the Interior is restricting the security duties of police patrols to guarding main roads, big squares and governmental buildings. Fadi Habashi, a security expert, says that the thugs have been exploiting the security vacuum to cause chaos. “But the chaos will end after the parliamentary elections and the police go back to work,” he claims.
