1st LD: Egyptian police arrest gunman for firing at tourist hotel

Egyptian police arrested a gunman Thursday after he allegedly fired birdshot pellets outside a tourist hotel in Giza governorate outside Cairo.

Unknown group of people shot fireworks toward "Three Pyramids" tourist hotel in Giza's Ahram district, causing no causalities, the interior ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, a group of 15 men directed fireworks at the police personnel guarding the hotel.

One of the assailants fired birdshot pellets as they were trying to flee the scene, causing damages to a nearby tourist bus as well as the hotel's glass facade.

"The police force managed to catch the man who fired birdshot pellets," the statement said.

Over the past five years, Egypt has seen recurrent mass protests that led to the overthrow of two heads of state as well as dozens of terror attacks, causing recession to the country's tourism industry.

Tourism has been one of the country's main sources of income and foreign currency reserves.

Egypt has been trying to revive the tourism sector in the aftermath of a Russian airplane crash over North Sinai last October, which prompted some countries, including Britain and Russia, to suspend their flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and to evacuate their nationals from there over security concerns. Endit