Egyptian students rally for return of tourists (AP)

CAIRO – As hundreds of Egyptian college students rallied at the iconic pyramids of Giza Friday to promote tourism, camel guide Salah Shabani stood to the side and looked on with sadness.

It's been two weeks since a popular uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but there has been no return of the crowds of foreigners who come to gaze at the pyramids and get their picture on a camel.

"I used to make 600 Egyptian pounds ($102) a week, or more," said Shabani, 23, who has given visitors rides on his camel, Oscar, since he was a teenager. "Now there is nothing. There are no tourists."

Shabani, who married two months ago, said he worries he won't be able to support his wife and has doubts about having children. He said he didn't regret the uprising — many Egyptians are still savoring a victory that has captured the attention of people around the world and sparked similar protests across the Middle East — but the reality that it could have negative consequences has set in.

Tourism in this tourist mecca known for pyramids, mummies, colorful markets and the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has all but come to a halt since the uprising began in January and eventually forced Mubarak out on Feb. 11.

About 210,000 tourists fled the country in the last week of January, costing Egypt about $178 million, according to the government's statistics bureau, and cancellations for February add up to an estimated revenue loss of $825 million.

That is a lot for a nation that gets 5 percent to 6 percent of its gross domestic product from tourism, according to several estimates. As many as 2 million Egyptians work in tourism.

Students who organized Friday's rally said they hoped to combat any perception that Egypt is not safe. They painted their faces with the Egyptian flag, carried signs that said, "Trust me, I'm Egyptian," and wore black T-shirts that said: "I love Egypt."

"If I were a tourist, and seeing all the recent events, I might be afraid to be around here," said George Wagdy, a 23-year-old college graduate who just finished his military service and is looking for a job as an English and Spanish translator. "But what we are saying now that Egypt is safe and everything is back to normal."

Still, there were only a handful of foreigners at the pyramids, a far different scene than the usual dozens of packed tour buses coming and going all day.

Penelope Martinez, a 29-year-old from Mexico City, said she and her traveling companion, her 18-year-old sister, seriously considered canceling their trip.

"A lot of friends and family said we shouldn't come," said Martinez, who noted that many people perceive Mexico as unsafe after much drug-related violence and kidnappings in recent years.

"But I thought that if I feel safe going out in my country, I should feel OK here," she said. "We have only been here two days, but so far we feel very safe."

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Bahrain opposition figure to return in test for talks (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – A Bahraini opposition figure was set to return to the Gulf Arab country on Tuesday after a week of unprecedented protests by majority Shi'ite Muslims against the U.S.-backed Sunni monarchy.

Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of the opposition Haq movement, said on his Facebook page on Monday that he wanted to see if the island nation's leadership was serious about dialogue and would arrest him or not. He was due to arrive on Tuesday evening.

Mushaimaa, who is based in London, is one of 25 people on trial since last year over an alleged coup plot but a statement by King Hamad bin Isa on Monday hinted that the trial would be shelved, allowing Mushaimaa an unhindered return.

State media said the king had ordered the release of unspecified convicted prisoners and a stop to ongoing court cases, in what opposition figures say they understand to be a reference to the trial.

It was not clear if this would be enough to bring opposition groups into a dialogue that King Hamad has asked his son, the crown prince, to conduct. The protests, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, were peaceful but seven people died and hundreds were wounded after police tried to break them up.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned attempts by security forces to crush the protest movement on an island that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, limiting the government's room for maneuver.

The protesters want Bahrain to move toward a constitutional monarchy, in contrast to the current system where Bahrainis vote for a parliament that has little power and policy remains the preserve of a ruling elite centered on the ruling dynasty.

The al-Khalifa family, which has ruled Bahrain for 200 years, dominates a cabinet led by the king's uncle, who has been prime minister for 40 years since independence in 1971.

The opposition also wants the release of political prisoners.

On Monday the government canceled the March 13 opening race of the Formula One season in Bahrain. "At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain," Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa said in a statement.

PEARL SQUARE

Protesters have set up camp at Pearl Square in the capital Manama where some 10,000 gathered on Monday demanding more say in a country whose Sunni ruling elite is seen by the West and Arab allies such as neighboring Saudi Arabia as a bulwark against the influence of Shi'ite power Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer, has a restive Shi'ite minority of its own in its Eastern Province.

Bahraini Shi'ites reject the idea that their affiliations are to Iran, saying such attitudes are typical of discrimination that extends to housing and jobs.

Although Shi'ite Muslims account for about 70 percent of the population, they are a minority in Bahrain's 40-seat parliament due to an electoral process that they say shuts them out.

The government denies that it treats Shi'ites unfairly and in a rally widely covered by state television on Monday, thousands carried Bahraini flags and signs supporting unity and the dialogue proposed by the government.

A resolution read at the rally rejected any attempt to question the government's legitimacy, but also called for the release of prisoners of conscience.

Mushaimaa's Haq movement is more radical than the Shi'ite Wefaq party, from which it split in 2006 when Wefaq contested a parliamentary election. Wefaq's 17 MPs resigned last week in protest at the state's use of violence on the protesters.

Haq's leaders often have been arrested in recent years, only to receive royal pardons. Some were rearrested in the crackdown last year, when 25 Shi'ite activists including Mushaimaa were charged with trying to overthrow the government violently.

(Writing by Andrew Hammond; editing by Myra MacDonald)

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S.Africa helping Aristide prepare Haiti return (AP)

PRETORIA, South Africa – South Africa is helping ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide prepare to return home after nearly seven years in exile, the foreign minister said Thursday.

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane did not specify when Aristide might leave South Africa, and did not say what has held up his return since the Haitian government granted his request for a new passport earlier this month.

"We are consulting with all interested parties to facilitate his return back home at the appropriate time," she said, adding Aristide had asked to go home.

Aristide, a former priest and Haiti's first democratically elected president, was ousted in a violent rebellion in 2004 and left the country aboard a U.S. plane.

Many at home still see him as a champion of the poor, and he has said he would devote himself to education and other development projects following last year's devastating earthquake.

Speculation that Aristide might come back to Haiti soared after ex-dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier made a surprise return in January after nearly 25 years of exile in France.

U.S. officials are among those worried though that Aristide's return could further destabilize a country preparing for a March 20 presidential runoff that was delayed by a political crisis and street disturbances over allegations of vote fraud.

"We would be concerned if former President Aristide returns to Haiti before the election," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington last week. "It would prove to be an unfortunate distraction to the people of Haiti."

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