"On Tuesday morning, hotel lobbies in Luxor were crowded with tourists waiting to go to the airport for direct flights home. Other foreigners returned to the temple, walking over the same bloodstained sand that only hours before had been the scene of a massacre. The atmosphere contrasted sharply with the images of horror and chaos of the day before. Visitors laughed and chatted with the Egyptian President and asked him for autographs. Mr. Mubarak was on a mission to control the damage from one of the sharpest blows to Egyptian tourism ever. He toured the site accompanied by officials and promised that security measures would be tightened. Tourists at the temple were philosophical about the dangers posed by Muslim militant groups in Egypt, agreeing with the authorities that terrorist attacks are a threat all over the world. But some said the Egyptians could have done more to protect their most popular archaeological sites. Other tourists demanded a government explanation as to why the attack occurred. Members of Egypt's main Islamic militant group, the Gemaa Islamaya released a statement on Tuesday saying they had planned to kidnap foreigners in order to win the release of their spiritual leader, Omar Abdel Rahman, currently in jail in the United States. They said the reckless behaviour of the security forces was to blame for the high number of deaths."