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In Egypt, talk of Western conspiracy over plane crash

Cairo - The rhetoric reflects in part the deep reluctance in the press to level serious criticism or suggestion of shortcomings by Al Sisi's government.

Egyptian media have reacted with fury as Britain and the United States increasingly point to a bomb as the cause of the October 31 Russian plane crash in Sinai, and many have hammered home to the public here the message that the country is facing a Western conspiracy to scare off tourists and destroy the economy.
Read: 224 killed as Russian airliner crashes in Egypt's Sinai
The warnings of a plot have been widely promoted by opinion-makers in print, online, and on TV, sometimes hinting and sometimes saying flat-out that the West has restricted flights to Egypt not purely out of safety concerns for its citizens but because it wants to undermine the country or prevent President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi from making Egypt too strong.
"The people defy the conspiracy - Egypt will not cave in to pressures," the state-owned Al Gomhuria newspaper proclaimed in a front-page headline this week. "Egypt stands up to 'the West's terrorism,'" an independent daily, El-Watan, headlined.
Read: Investigators probe deadly Russian airliner crash in Egypt
The rhetoric reflects in part the deep reluctance in the press to level serious criticism or suggestion of shortcomings by Al Sisi's government.
Since Al Sisi's election as president, most media have continued to laud him as working to bring stability.
In the Egyptian media, the flight suspensions and calls for better airport security were seen as unfair and malicious.
Hazem Moneim, a commentator with El-Watan, wrote that the West was "afraid" of Egypt.
Al Ahram and other papers also accused Britain of forcing its nationals vacationing in Egypt to leave.
Al Ahram ran a photo of a woman arguing with British Ambassador John Casson at the Sharm Al Sheikh airport, with the caption, "We want to resume our trip and don't want to leave," as if she were saying that.
In video footage that has gone viral online, the tourist, Clara Dublin, was in fact telling the ambassador, "We want to go home," angry over the confusion in arranging flights out.