How safe is Egypt for travel right now and what can be assumed for
traveler safety during the following 2 months? I have already
consulted the following sources of information: CIA Factbook,
Department of State Travel Advisory, and Lonely Planet. I am
interested in pointers to a few independent resources, (travellers,
local people, local expats) hard facts/numbers on safety recently
maybe even news and political commentary that suggests something about
safety. I am not asking for exhaustive research. If you gather enough
info to make a decision yourself, it is probably good enough for me,
too. Thanks.

Hello nmor-ga, 

I don't have current local knowledge for you so am not posting this as
an answer. The UK Foreign Office travel advice site at
http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel says, among other things: "Egypt has
effective police and security forces, and considerable effort is made
by them to ensure the safety and security of foreign visitors.
Enhanced security arrangements are maintained, especially at tourist
sites" I certainly witnessed this myself when I was in Egypt in
January 2000. Tourism is a vital part of Egypt's economy, hence the
care to protect tourists, especially after the 1997 massacre.

I have myself booked a week in Egypt in mid-December of this year.

Hi nmor-ga,

I am an Egyptian working for multinational company and receive a lot
of my superiors who come so frequently for business and private trips.
I can say that Egypt is considered one of the best and safest
destination in the region and we have no prolem at all with tourists.
We as Egyptians like forigners and you will feel that if decided to
visit our country at any time.
The best time to enjoy the country is from October to March where
weather is fantastic every where you can enjoy the History mainly in
Cairo, Luxor and Aswan and at the same time enjoy the exotic
destinations like sharm el shiekh and Hurgada (population in these
destination is at least 85% tourists and 15% local people) where you
can practice any sea sports (swimming, diving, water sports, etc...)as
it is considered the best places in the world.. Believe me I am not
exagerating.
Please drop me a message and I will be very much delieghted to help
you during your stay in Egypt and will be very happy to invite you for
a lunch or dinner.
I promise that your visit to Egypt will not be the last one..Just try.
Regards

Thanks for the helping comments. I have traveled in Egypt a long time
ago and enjoyed it a lot without any safety worries. I am pretty much
convinced it should be the same again this time. I am trying to
persuade some friends into coming along and they are a little bit put
off by the current situation in the middle east. I would like some
supporting evidence to convince them there are no worries. aaaghgh-ga,
I cannot find any way to contact you through the site - in any way my
email is nmor@planet.gr in case you would like to contact me. It is
not the first time an Egyptian invites me for dinner, but the honour
is just as big. :)