Death in The Mosque

THE TOURIST CITY OF ASWAN WAS ALREADY TENSE following the murder of two policemen. Then, acting on a tip that antigovernment militants were secretly assembling, security forces surrounded the city's al-Rahman Mosque. Gunfire suddenly pierced the night and continued for hours. When it was over, 14 had been killed, including a policeman. Eight coordinated raids in the Cairo area and one north of the capital produced more shoot-outs and more casualties: a total of 23 dead and 46 injured, the highest toll since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981.

Coincidentally, 49 Muslim militants who have been charged with attacks on foreign tourists -- prime targets of late -- went on trial in Cairo. Some proclaimed allegiance to Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, the antigovernment cleric self-exiled in the U.S. Ironically, Sheik Omar's sudden notoriety as a result of the World Trade Center bombing in New York City may have helped provide President Hosni Mubarak with an excuse to order last week's bloody crackdown.