On this day: the Luxor massacre

A Norwood charity bikeride through Egypt, which had been in the area just hours before, was cut short out of security fears.

Although one militant attempted to blame Israel for the killings, Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, an Egyptian Islamic extremist group backed by al Qaeda, was held responsible for the attack.

The massacre damaged the Egyptian economy as tourism declined in the immediate aftermath. But it also influenced Egyptian public opinion, with many citizens demanding retribution. The terrorist group eventually agreed to a ceasefire in 1999.

What the JC said: Words like “obscene” or “vile’ cannot convey the extent of the crime, nor the depth of the tragedy — a tragedy shared by all faiths, all nations, who value human life and abhor those who dress up murder as an act of politics. Nothing an individual can say, or a government can do, is capable of lessening the loss of the relatives of those who were killed. But what we can do is recognise the imperative to identify, and renounce, acts of terror for what they are and to support actions...aimed at denying the murders their financial and political lifeblood.

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