Four people were killed and 18 others wounded in a deadly blast in the Egyptian capital on Thursday, which analysts say was not an accident but a sabotage aimed at Egypt's social stability and national economy. 

With no group having claimed responsibility so far, police are working hard to look into the assault and determine its cause.

Initial reports said the explosion might be traced to a bomb thrown by a man on a motorcycle. If confirmed, analysts here say, this will lead to an assumption that the attack was probably premeditated.

One of the major objectives of the Egyptian extremist groups has for long been devastating Egypt's tourism industry by scaring away foreign tourists.

In an interview with Xinhua, political analyst Azzem Tarek noted that Thursday's blast was a result of regional instability and intensified domestic contradiction. 

Some countries, in the name of anti-terror campaign or democracy, use force to violate international laws and interfere with other countries' internal affairs, which is in the fact futile in promoting anti-terror efforts but instead, putting a premium on the spreading of terrorism, said Tarek.

It is true that the slow economic development and democratic process in some Arab countries have given terrorists an excuse for launching attacks, but the major root cause for mounting terrorist activities is misusing or excessive using of force in dealing with problems arisen in international relations, said Tarek.

He said the US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq opened the Pandora's box and triggered a spate of terrorism prevalence across the world, especially in the Middle East.

The intensified social contradiction in Egypt is another factor, he said.

Like most of the terror attacks in the 1990s, Thursday's explosion apparently targeted foreign tourists," said Saber Rabie, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

It was the second attack against tourists in Egypt in six months. Last October, three car bombs exploded almost simultaneously outside the Taba Hilton Hotel and two tourists camps in the Sinai Peninsula.

"They (the extremists) wanted to destroy the national economy by devastating one of its pillars: tourism industry," said Rabie.

The Cairo blast occurred near an open-air market in Cairo's Old City, which hundreds of tourists visited every day to buy souvenirs and traditional handicrafts.

Egypt, reputed highly for its ancient relics and sunny coastlines, earned about US$6.1 billion from tourism in 2004.

Tourism officials said the Sinai bombings last year caused a loss of about US$200 million for tourism revenue in 2004, as the number of tourists was reduced by 200,000 as a result of the attacks.

Mahmoud Amr, a jewelry dealer at a store near the explosion site, said he was worried by the attack as, like other terror activities in the past, it may have a negative impact on his business.

"Of course, I'm worried," he said. "After the media reports, people around the world surely think Egypt is a dangerous country."

"When they decide not to come to visit this country, how can I make a living by selling items to tourists?" he said.

Egypt's economy is experiencing a hard period of times witnessed by sluggish development and high unemployment rate in addition to price hikes. In the past nine months, prices have jumped up by more than 30 percent.

Such sluggish economy has triggered off the long-accumulated social problems, said Tarek.

Since last December, the Egyptian opposition parties have organized several anti-government demonstrations, demanding the political reform. Such activities are becoming more and more frequent, arousing concerns over the country's stability.

Should the Egyptian government fail to find out an appropriate solution to the economic problem, the country will face serious social crisis, Tarek said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2005)