Jack Goes To Egypt

I was talking to my friend Jack at lunch today about Mubarak and Egypt, and this little bit of information fell out. Jack visited Egypt back in 1997, fourteen years ago. His visit was just about a month after some terrorists shot up a bus load of tourists and about a month before another bunch of terrorists shot some tourists at one of the ancient temples. He was with a group, and the group had a couple of private security guys with them at all times. They were dressed in plain clothes, not uniforms, and carried guns (with bullets). There were military guards with guns at most tourist locations, though it wasn't always clear whether they had any bullets. He saw one guard with what appeared to be a stainless steel AK-47, but when he got a little closer he saw that it wasn't stainless, it was a regular blued steel gun that been worn and/or polished so much that all of the bluing had been worn off.