Egypt revokes hotel licenses over sexual assaults

CAIRO – Egypt said it had withdrawn the licenses of two hotels in a popular Red Sea resort over reported sexual assaults as a policeman was charged on Tuesday with attempted rape.

A prosecutor referred the Sharm el-Sheikh policeman to trial for allegedly entering the hotel room of a Russian tourist and attempting to rape her, the official MENA news agency reported.

In separate case, a British woman has complained that she was raped by an employee of her Sharm el-Sheikh hotel, tourism officials said.

Hundreds of thousands of foreign holidaymakers visit Egypt’s Red Sea resorts each year, bringing desperately needed revenue to a sector battered by political upheaval since the Arab Spring uprising of 2011.

The ministry “took a series of decisions, including canceling the license of the Hilton Sharks Bay hotel on Monday,” ministry spokeswoman Rasha al-Azaizi told AFP.

She said the ministry also withdrew the operating license of a second hotel where a sexual assault had been reported.

A receptionist at the Hilton Sharks Bay Resort told AFP no public relations official was available to handle press inquiries but added that the hotel was functioning normally.

“We can say there has been a complaint and it is being investigated,” he said.

“The hotel is working normally. So far nothing has reached us,” he added, referring to the tourism ministry’s decision.