Abusir and the ex army officer
Preamble to interviewing 5 ex Egyptian army officers
Since I first arrived in Egypt I have listened as almost every Egyptian I have spoken to has criticised the country's current president.
By ‘since I first arrived’ I mean starting with the taxi driver who took me from Cairo international airport to my digs in Giza, overlooking the Pyramid of Khufu. And by ‘criticise’ I mean speak about him with absolute contempt, calling him everything from ‘the worst president in Egyptian history’ to ‘that dog’!
The key factor contributing to their condemnation of President Sisi is the dire state of Egypt’s economy and the disastrous effect it has had on their lives. I have seen myself how basic items like tea, sugar and coffee have increased in price since I arrived in the country. In the three weeks since I landed at Cairo’s gateway to the Pyramids I have witnessed how the price of coffee has increased by over 10%. Counter intuitively the rising prices are not linked to the strength of the Egyptian pound (EGP). In fact the rate of exchange versus Sterling (GBP) has remained virtually the same since I arrived. As I write this the National Bank of Egypt is offering a rate of 61.34 versus 62.24 when I arrived.
It's not just in Cairo that the local residents have expressed their dismay at the state of the country's economy either.
In Giza and Alexandria the message has been the same, rising prices are driving people into ever worsening financial crisis, a major factor has the been the repeated sudden jumps in the consumer price index, driven largely by fuel increases in the cost of petrol at the pumps. This has had an impact on their health, both physical and mental and is exacerbated by recent decisions taken by the Egyptian government which have reduced access to free state medical care.
Egypt Independent estimates that there are 3 million children living on Egypt’s streets and therefore have no access to formal education. Instead they look to add to the household’s income. Either by helping with the family business or, and I have seen this for myself, by taking any available jobs from searching for recyclable items amongst the piles of rubbish that are everywhere, to peddling sweets and packets of tissues to tourists and locals alike.
It should be noted that the Egyptian government disputes these figures, reporting that 97% of children in Egypt attend school.
They are the lucky ones. I have heard first hand accounts of how children disappear, or have been forced to leave their elderly parents and fend for themselves on the streets of Egypt's major cities. Selling anything from cheap sweets to sexual favours and in even more extreme cases, becoming victims of the illegal trade in human organs!
That may explain how I have come to possess a carrier bag full of packets of paper tissues, ‘bought’ from children who look as young as four years old. It's difficult for me to say no to a filthy, emancipated child, dressed in rags often barefoot in the blistering heat, when they approach me when I’m sitting comfortably in the shade drinking my mint tea. Sometimes they will leave them on the patrons table and return in a few minutes to see who has taken them up on their offer. Sometimes they approach with pleading, desperate stares, holding out their goods in tiny, often sore covered hands.
It's true that some of them have become experts at tugging on the heart strings. I will never forget the young girl in Alexandria who’s opening line was ‘I love you Sir, would you like a sweet?’
Needless to say I quickly became the owner of a small bag of coffee flavoured sweets. It was all she had to sell and as it happens they are delicious. The look of relief and gratitude on her face as I handed her twenty times the going rate broke my heart. Even typing this has left me wiping my eyes clear.
Even more humbling than this was the fact that she saw how distressed I was and gave me a fleeting kiss on the cheek as if to say ‘thank you, it's ok’. Before disappearing into the night. I saw a wealthy looking tourist shaking his head as if to say, ‘she took you for a ride’. I held his gaze defiantly.
I don't see compassion as a weakness.
It's not just tourists who buy from the street children, mothers with tiny babies and men with missing limbs who can be found on every street corner. Egyptians are acutely aware of the dire straits faced by the poor. For them it is a matter of national shame.
Many of those missing an arm or leg, sometimes both, are veterans of the Egyptian armed forces.
Their plight causes palpable, rising anger on the streets.
That anger is directed overwhelmingly at one person. President Sisi.
This interview, conducted with 5 members of the Egyptian reserve force may give you some insight into why they are so angry.
LIke the interview I carried out with a Hezbollah fighter in the Beqaa valley in Lebanon, this one was made possible as a result of an encounter with a taxi driver.
From this point I will refer to him as Soldier A
I met Soldier A in my quest to visit the little known archaeological site at Abu Gorab, close to the far more well known site at Saqqara, famous for the incredible Step Pyramid of Djoser.
When I visited Saqqara there was no mention of what had been unearthed less than 6 km away next to the tiny village of Abusir. The site has only recently been explored scientifically and, from what I can determine, was only recognised as part of the UNESCO heritage in 2021. Even UNESCO’s own listing limited mentions it fleetingly.
For now, let's return to my chance meeting with Soldier A. He currently works as a taxi driver cum tourist guide and, unlike many of the ‘guides’ that I met in Egypt, he has a genuine interest in the origins and history of the multiple archaeological sites to be found throughout this beautiful country. We got to chatting about some of the lesser known sites he had visited and I mentioned a site I had learnt of the previous evening as I searched for places to visit before I left Cairo on my journey down the Nile river.
Abusir, also known as Abu Gorab.
Despite his knowledge of the lesser known tombs, necropoli and Pyramids in the area, he had never heard of this one. I showed him pictures of the mysterious stone bowls found at Abusir and his eyes lit up. I had found a kindred spirit.
The following day we set off on our quest and Soldier A pulled into a petrol station forecourt to fill the tank and I spotted they had a coffee shop. Ten minutes later, with the car and its occupants fueled up and ready to go I mentioned the cost of petrol. Little did I know that this innocent remark would be the catalyst for a conversation that would see the two of us discussing everything from the role of the IMF in Egypt’s current economic crisis to Soldier A’s incarceration at the hands of his own government!
Throughout this heartfelt, frank and, in my opinion, entirely honest conversation, one name kept popping up, Sisi.
As far as Soldier A was concerned, President Sisi had to take full responsibility for the plight of millions of Egyptian citizens like him. As the day went on and his trust in me grew he explained how his Father had been decorated during his time in the Army and how Soldier A himself had served as a member of a specialist unit (to protect his identity I have chosen not to reveal which unit).
His story shocked me as he explained how he had been incarcerated by the very army he had fought for, locked away from his family for two weeks as punishment for his ‘crimes’.
What were those crimes? He had attended a march protesting the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. Perhaps encouraged by my black and white tactical Shemagh, now seen across the world as a sign of support for the Palestinian people, although when I bought it my only thought was protecting myself from the extreme heat, Soldier A mentioned that it was not the only time he had been arrested by the state he proudly served as a reserve force member. Indeed he told me that he was not the only member of the reserve force who had been arrested at the same time.
I cautiously pressed him for more details, not wanting to scare him off. What he revealed to me that day reminded me of the dystopian movies and books I have enjoyed since I was a child.
When I asked him whether he and his fellow reserve force members would be willing to sit down with me and allow me to record our conversation to be published on my social media and new website he said he wanted me to meet with them for that very reason. He agreed to speak to them and ask them if they would be willing to meet with me and stressed that I would not be able to mention any names as that could see them all imprisoned again.
Or worse. Far worse.
I suggested that we could meet for tea so that they could decide themselves whether they trusted me but, in what I took as a sign of the regard Soldier A must be held in by his cohort, he said that that wouldn't be necessary and that they would accept his word as a sign of my sincerity and trustworthiness.
As our search for ancient relics drew to an unsuccessful end, I had been offered access if I agreed to pay $1000 (US)! Soldier A told me more about the events that led to him being locked up for the first time and in doing so he painted a picture of the events leading up to President Sisi’s inauguration that were very different to the one I had read in the mainstream press.
As we said goodbye for the time being we joked about hoping that no-one was listening to our phones, we had been using them to translate each other's words and Soldier A said that we should only communicate over WhatsApp for that very reason.
Later that evening I received a message advising me that his friends had agreed to meet me to tell their story.
For context I have attached a timeline of events leading up to President Sisi’s inauguration as well as some statistics and economic data related to the claims made by the interviewees.
As per the principles of journalistic impartiality so integral to the ethos of Gonzo Journalism I have sourced these from various organisations and institutions around the world and referenced them accordingly.
Timeline of Power shifts in Egypt
1952 - Egyptian revolution led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamel Abdel Nasser, sees the overthrow of KIng Faruk and marks the end of British colonial rule. Though Farouk's infant son was formally declared by the revolutionaries as King Faud 11, all effective executive power was vested in Naguib and the Revolutionary Command Council
1954 - Naguib resigned as president in November, following a severe rift with the younger military officers who had participated with him in the revolution.
1956 - Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected as president via a plebiscite.
1970 - After his sudden death in September, Nasser was succeeded by his vice president, Anwar Sadat, who was elected by plebiscite in October of the same year.
1981 - After his assassination in October, Sadat was succeeded by his vice president, Hosni Mubarak, who was elected president by plebiscite and remained so for nearly 30 years.
2011 - In the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Mubarak, who held office from 14 October 1981 until 11 February 2011, was forced to resign following mass nationwide protests demanding his removal from office. On 10 February 2011 Mubarak transferred presidential powers to his recently appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman. Suleiman's wielding of presidential powers was a momentary formality, as the position of president of Egypt was then officially vacated, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, assumed executive control of the state.
2012 - On June the 30th, the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated, Mohamed Morsi was sworn in as President of Egypt, having won the 2012 Egyptian presidential election on 24 June.
2013 - On 3 July Morsi was removed from office following mass protests against his rule.
June 2014 - Sisi sworn in as president, having won 96.9% of the vote
