CAIRO: The government has called in the Algerian ambassador Ambassador Abdelkader Hadjar yesterday and then recalled its own envoy Ambassador Abdul-Aziz Seif al-Nasr, from Algeria for consultations in protest against the attacks on Egyptians following the game in Sudan.
Ambassador Hassan Eisa told Daily News Egypt this was “a practical move to show our anger, describing it as low-level action on the diplomatic front. “The next level is removing Algerian embassy from Egypt and after it war .
President Hosni Mubarak called for a top level ministerial meeting on Thursday into the attack of Algerian fans on their Egyptian counterparts after the game in Sudan.
According to Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, President Mubarak was surprised at the scale of Algerian violence against the Egyptian fans.
Speaking to the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya channel, Aboul-Gheit said that Egypt considered the two matches against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers as just football games. They were not a war.
The Egyptian government has formally asked Algeria to protect Egyptian businesses and nationals there.
“The Arabs should not deal with each others in such a way, Aboul-Gheit said, referring to the ransacking of Egyptian business in Algeria and the attacks on Egyptians following Saturday’s game.
Orascom executive chief Naguib Sawaris said earlier this week that Orascom suffered at least #5 million in damage.
Aboul-Gheit said that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called for calm. The relations between the two people and countries are bigger than a football game, he said. But what we have seen has angered and surprised the Egyptians.
The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa, also called for calm after Wednesday’s game.
The row is not confined to diplomacy, thought. Head of the Egyptian Musicians Syndicate Mounir el-Wassimy said Egypt is cutting music ties with Algeria over the attacks. Wassimy also added that he will also file a law suit against the head of the Algerian football federation and the Algerian ambassador in Cairo for what he called provocative statements by both of them that agitated the Algerian fans.
