CAIRO: Angry and tired, many Egyptians who traveled to Sudan to watch the crucial World Cup qualifier between Egypt and Algeria claimed that the attacks they were subjected to were premeditated.
Eyewitnesses alleged to Daily News Egypt that the attacks by Algerian fans before and after the game were organized by the Algerian government.
They said the buses they took from Khartoum Airport to El Marriekh Stadium in Omdurman were pelted by stones. Disorganization was evident at the stadium gates, where many Egyptians had to force their way in to find that their seats were occupied. Many watched the game standing up.
After Egypt’s loss to Algeria, 1-0, frustrated fans discovered that the trip to the airport was to be more arduous than expected.
Many said Algerian fans “ambushed their buses, leaving the drivers with no option but to stop. After the bus windows were smashed with stones, Egyptians claimed knives were hurled into the buses.
With many stories of people taking temporary refuge in restaurants, hotels and houses, those who eventually made it to the airport were faced with more hurdles. Many were locked outside the airport for hours. But after making it inside, they were allowed to board the planes according to availability, no tickets or boarding passes were needed.
Daily News Egypt spoke to several Egyptians who had traveled to Sudan.
Eyewitness Omar Shawky, 35, an investment advisor and chairman of an investment company: “On our way to the stadium we saw Algerians standing on top of cars with their knives in their hands and gesturing with the knives on their neck as if to say ‘you are dead’. The driver was trying to avoid Algerian attacks on our way to the airport after the game and he did all he could. Three people on my bus were injured.
“I tried to count the number of buses that was destroyed, they were 26. At the same time they were cursing Egyptians and burning the Egyptian flag.
“No one from the Egyptian embassy came, no one brought us water . and no one told us what to do. When they opened the airport doors 5,000-7,000 Egyptians ran to the runway. After that, a guy from EgyptAir made 7,000 Egyptians sit on the floor of the airport like refugees before boarding the airplanes, 150 passengers at a time.
“There were three people that our bus couldn’t wait for. These three people were on the streets attacked by Algerians. If it weren’t for a Sudanese man, God bless him, those people would have been dead. He asked them to take off their shirts and stay on the floor in a Toyota car and dropped them at the airport.
“Algerians hurt us politically, economically. They selected people who were criminals with no passports. They issued their passports on the same day. They were financed by the Algerian government and Algerian ambassador in Sudan. They financed their accommodation and their weapons.
“It’s beyond a match, its beyond a few zealots, it is an organized terrorism led by the Algerian government. Our government has to take serious action, they have to feel the pain of the consequences of what they did, and they lost Egypt.
Eyewitness Mohamed Moneer Younis, 35, executive manager for a news agency based in Egypt: “When we were going to the game, our bus was hit. One person was injured and we told a policeman standing close by to do something but he didn’t do anything. We were exposed to Algerian attacks. We told the driver to drive us to the match where it’s more secured.
“On our way back, 2 km from the airport, groups of Algerians were slowing the bus as if they didn’t go to the match. They attacked us. Two people were injured. I can assure you that there are 200 people who were injured only from the shatter of window glass.
“When we arrived at the airport it was like an evacuation. We are so angry at the Egyptian government. If you knew that this would happen, why didn’t you protect your people? Sudan did what it could, according to its security capabilities. We don’t want any relations between us and Algeria, and I want to cut diplomatic relations with them.
Eyewitness Sherif Zaki, assistant client relations manager at a multinational public relations company: “The terror started the moment we went out of the airport going to the stadium, five hours before the game.
“The Algerian fans were sitting on trucks throwing huge bricks on our buses, breaking all our windows and injuring many. To our surprise, there were thousands of Algerians waiting outside the stadium in the streets for us to come out, we had to switch off the lights in the bus just like the Jews used to do back in World War II to escape the Nazis. Our women and kids were screaming, and the men trying to protect them. Many who escaped the buses went to the closest houses they could find to hide in them. The ones who didn t manage to run away were hit and stabbed, even women got stabbed. The Sudanese security did nothing, as if they were bribed by Algerians to stand helpless and not interfere.
