<P> The 1990s saw an Islamist group, al - Gama'a al - Islamiyya, engage in an extended campaign of violence, from the murders and attempted murders of prominent writers and intellectuals, to the repeated targeting of tourists and foreigners . Serious damage was done to the largest sector of Egypt's economy--tourism--and in turn to the government, but it also devastated the livelihoods of many of the people on whom the group depended for support . </P> <P> Victims of the campaign against the Egyptian state from 1992 - 1997 exceeded 1,200 and included the head of the counter-terrorism police (Major General Raouf Khayrat), a speaker of parliament (Rifaat el - Mahgoub), dozens of European tourists and Egyptian bystanders, and over 100 Egyptian police . </P> <P> At times, travel by foreigners in parts of Upper Egypt was severely restricted and dangerous . </P> <P> On 17 November 1997, 62 people, mostly tourists, were killed near Luxor . The assailants trapped the people in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut . </P>

Notable egyptian leaders who shaped the history of egypt