Murder in Cairo

Who killed David Holden ?

It promised to be a big story, and David Holden, 53, the London Sunday Times's distinguished chief foreign correspondent, interrupted a leave of absence to be on the scene. With the Egyptian-Israeli peace talks still eight days off, he flew into Cairo from Jordan on the night of Dec. 6. He had his passport stamped, cashed $200 in traveler's checks and strode out of the airport. About eight hours later Holden's body was found beside a road near the airport, his pockets empty, the labels ripped off his tailor-made suit and a single bullet hole in his back.

Shortly before his death Holden told friends in Amman that he was going to make a detour to Jerusalem on his way to Cairo. "Haven't been there for years," he said. "I guess they consider me public enemy No. 1." Holden was joking, though it is true that Israeli officials considered him pro-Arab because of his sensitive reporting on the plight of Palestinians. Holden had also criticized Arab left-wingers for "their stupid boasts and futile gestures," and some friends believe he may have been the victim of Arab extremists.

"His death is a loss to understanding," wrote Editor Harold Evans in the Sunday Times, where Holden spent twelve of his 24 years as a journalist. Evans dispatched five reporters to the Middle East to look into Holden's death. In Cairo, Egyptian Interior Minister Nabawy Ismail took charge of the case at the insistence of President Anwar Sadat. Neither Egyptian officials nor Holden's colleagues know why he was killed. But most people familiar with the case agree on one point: the motive was probably not robbery.

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