Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
protest went up across the mosque. The second cop desperately tried to pacify the baying
crowd while the first dragged the arrested man towards the gates. On my tiptoes, I tried to
see what was going on - but all I could see was Turbo waving his arms.
'Lev, let's get out of here!' he screamed. 'Fast!'
I didn't need to be told twice. Shouldering my way through the protestors, I reached
Turbo in the middle of the throng. 'What's happening?'
'Muslim Brotherhood,' he whispered. 'Quick, before the mob turns on us . . .'
'Why would the mob . . .?'
But, before I could finish my question, Turbo had already dragged me to the gate.
Outside, he turned to me and asked, 'That man - did you see him?'
'Not really. I just saw the police grab him. Who was he?'
Turbo shook his head as we hurried away from the gates. 'Well, I was a bit suspicious.
He had a black bag. Nobody brings a bag to the mosque.'
'What was in it?'
'I don't know. Perhaps it was a bomb, or some guns. He must have been Muslim Broth-
erhood, Lev. Some of the other people were saying they didn't know who he was, that he
wasn't from here . . .'
By now, more and more men were pouring into the mosque to find out what the commo-
tion was. Turbo and I raced the other way, stopping only when we were clear of the place
and hiding behind a house.
'What were the crowd saying?' I asked.
'It was mixed - that's why it was so dangerous. Some of them were with the police,
telling them to round up more Brotherhood supporters, grassing up their neighbours . . .
but some of them were actually on his side, trying to drive the police away.'
'Why would they do that?' I asked, confused.
'There's still a lot of support for the Brotherhood. Don't forget, after the first revolution,
in 2011, Egypt basically elected the Brotherhood to government. Morsi was one of their
key leaders. So there are plenty of people who sympathise - people you wouldn't expect
it from either. School teachers, farmers, taxi drivers - I know plenty of people who voted
for Morsi. They're normal people, but there's such a divide in this country, it runs through
every village.' Turbo paused, if only to catch his breath. 'It's lucky we escaped, Lev. Some
of the men in the crowd were blaming us. They thought we're the reason the police were
there.'
'But . . . why?'
'Well, the police have been following us since Aswan, right? They thought we'd led
them to the mosque. They were going to lynch us.'
'Wouldn't the police have stopped that?'
