Eastern Med woos tourists

LONDON - Israel, Egypt and Turkey have created a new body to promote tourism to the eastern Mediterranean, writes Charles Richards.

Security problems have put off tourists. In 1988, after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising, the Israel Tourist Authority had to withdraw posters with the slogan 'Jerusalem - a stone's throw from Tel Aviv'. Egypt's tourism has been devastated by Islamist violence, and the kidnapping of foreign tourists by Turkey's Kurds has deterred visitors.