Egypt beefs up security

Egypt deployed more forces at tourist sites yesterday in the wake of the massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor. "This could happen anywhere in the world," President Hosni Mubarak said at Cairo airport after seeing off Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at the end of her three-day visit to Egypt.

President Mubarak sacked his interior minister after publicly berating him for lapses that enabled Muslim militants to carry out their bloodiest attack since their armed campaign began in 1992.

The new interior minister, Habib el-Adli, replaced top officials at the ministry and security officials in Luxor on his first full day in office. "The area is full of tourists and you tell me the police are two kilo- metres away? This is a joke," showed Mr Mubarak saying at the temple on Tuesday as Mr Alfi stood by. Mr Mubarak has ordered the Prime Minister, Kamal Ganzouri, to head a special committee to draw up a "watertight plan" to ensure the safety of tourists.

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- Reuters, Cairo