Everything is treated more harshly.
Someone I know was in Egypt. Nearby a "foreign" woman (Probably european as the area had a number of european residents) was groped at a bus stop and started beating the guy. The police arrived during he spectacle, pulled them apart and sent her on her way on the bus. The local guy was taken just around the corner, beaten and left lying in the road.
When I asked if the beating was for messing with someone from another country or for getting beaten by a woman the anwer was "probably both, but if she'd been a local it would have gone differently"
The old regime didn't like anyone messing with foreigners, especially tourists.
The other story was that a hardline bunch in a village on the way to the pyramids kidnapped a busload of tourists -That made the news. What didn't was a couple weeks later when the road was closed for two days while the army dealt with the kidnappers.
Despite our "problems" I'm very happy I live in the US.
Steve B
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