Conference Safety a Priority in Cairo : Tourism: Egypt hopes peaceful population meeting will redeem reputation of capital city.

CAIRO —  For weeks, the bloom on this dusty old city had been almost palpable. New, young trees were planted in boulevard medians, curbs were repainted, pothole-peppered streets were repaved. The whole country almost seemed to be pulling itself out of the doldrums.

After three years of Islamic militant violence had choked the life out of the $3-billion-a-year tourist industry, a six-month lull in tourist attacks seemed to put all that in the past. Hotel bookings started climbing, and summer tourism rose 14% over last year.

It was with this air of confidence that Egypt prepared for what officials are calling the largest tourist event in its history: the U.N.-sponsored International Conference on Population and Development, scheduled to bring 20,000 delegates--including world leaders such as Vice President Al Gore and former President Jimmy Carter--into the Egyptian capital starting Monday.

Then, last week, Islamic gunmen opened fire on a tour bus in southern Egypt, killing a Spanish teen-ager and wounding three others. The militant Gamaa al Islamiya followed up its claim of responsibility with a warning to foreigners: “The Gamaa advises all foreigners taking part in the licentious conference known as the Population Conference that, by taking part in this conference, which all sectors of the Egyptian people have rejected . . . , they are putting themselves in danger’s way.”

One week later, the gunmen suspected in the bus attack were themselves killed by Egyptian police, and Tourism Minister Mamdouh Beltagi was confidently brushing aside the Islamic warnings. “It is very easy to send a fax warning. That is not automatically to be considered as credible,” he said.

But by night, Beltagi is going home and putting an ice pack on his head.

For Egypt--where tourism revenues can make or break an economy that depends on them as its largest source of foreign currency--much depends on the peaceful outcome of the conference.

And security is only part of Beltagi’s headache. He must also coordinate transportation for delegates from hotels all over Cairo, through the city’s legendary traffic snarls and out to the modern new conference center on the city’s eastern edge. He must arrange for computer link-ups, satellite feeds and journalists demanding mobile phones.

Logistics alone prompted worries in a city that almost routinely turns its annual international film festival into a fiasco by mixing up the show times and leaving VIPs stuck waiting for seats at the opening night gala.

And the worries weren’t eased by Wednesday and Thursday, when delegates from non-governmental organizations and journalists had to wait up to four hours for their conference badges. A near-riot broke out Wednesday when CNN showed up and moved to the front of the line.

Yet, for everything that could go wrong, Egypt has been moving ahead with remarkable aplomb.

Leave has been canceled for all security services, and 14,000 police and soldiers have been assigned to guard the conference--patrolling streets, monitoring hotels, safe-guarding tourist sites, such as the Pyramids, and Islamic monuments.

Metal detectors are in place at all hotels, and, as has been the custom for months, guards check all bags brought into foreign-style eateries such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Baskin-Robbins.

Dozens of Nile cruise boats have been brought up as floating hotels to accommodate conference guests who are not staying in luxury hotels that line the banks of the river. Buses will travel from all hotels to the conference site, wired with thousands of new telephone lines, modems, faxes and on-line computer links.

“This conference is a certification for Egypt from the international community of security, stability, carrying capacity, organizational and touristic capabilities,” Beltagi said, noting that Egypt has hosted 24 international conferences this year.

“People talk about security when security in Egypt has always been strong,” Beltagi said. “The U.S., with the best security services in the world, you were not able to prevent the assassination of a President . . . and you have not been able to control criminality. But has tourism to Miami been affected? In Washington or New York, where more than one person is killed a night, have tourists stopped going?

“Yes, the international conference is important for tourism. But tourism to Egypt is in the long range--it is already booming, and the indications are that it will continue to boom again. We are very hopeful there will be no accidents.”