Cairo (AFP)

From the top of his wooden dovecote with a breathtaking view of the pyramids of Giza, Abdel Rahmane Gamal whistles around twenty pigeons in the air, under the warm light of Egyptian twilight.

Raising pigeons is "a good pastime (...) when you are at home and which prevents doing stupid things", assures the young thirty-something who discovered this hobby when he was six years old thanks to his grandfather. and his uncle.

Now, with his 28-year-old brother Omar, he trains around 40 birds on the family roof, in the popular district of Nazlet al-Seman, at the foot of the Giza plateau, near Cairo.

The pigeon sport is attested "since Pharaonic times" in Egypt, with "pigeons carved on the walls of temples", says Ahmed Khalifa, president of the Egyptian Carrier Pigeon Union.

This essentially masculine tradition has taken root elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East, where pigeons are bred for races, games or ... for culinary purposes.

- Lucrative -

And, in a region disrupted by conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic, pigeon racing remains popular.

In Syria, if ten years of war and the economic crisis have forced many breeders to sell their birds, discipline persists in the IDP camps of Idleb (northeast), where markets are organized, according to a correspondent from AFP.

Likewise, pigeon races have continued to be held in Yemen, despite the conflict that has ravaged the country since 2014.

For their part, the Iraqi "matyarchis" (herders), long considered immoral and unreliable, have been rehabilitated in the eyes of society in recent years, their hobby even becoming popular.

In this part of the world, racing pigeons, the fastest of which reach around 100 km / h, sell for between a few tens and thousands of dollars, with an Iraqi sale having peaked at 180,000 dollars (150,000 euros) a few years ago. .

In Egypt, hundreds or even thousands of birds participate in such races.

The National Union organizes two per year, from Cairo to Salloum (northwest, 600 km) and Aswan (south, 700 km).

But the most popular competitions are the informal "derbies" with prizes of up to 2.5 million Egyptian pounds (some 130,000 euros), explains Mr. Khalifa.

In Morocco, races, which remain the prerogative of circles of insiders, on the other hand experienced a downtime with the pandemic.

But "we hope to make up for it this year, (and) several races have already taken place," explains Salah Eddine Khannouss, vice-president of the Grand Casablanca pigeon racing federation.

- "Wars of the pigeons" -

Pigeons are also the subject of competitions in Egypt, especially in disadvantaged areas, where many greyish buildings are topped with brightly colored dovecotes ("gheya" in Egyptian).

The daily releases are accompanied by games: the breeders fly their pigeons, hoping to bring birds back to their loft.

"If a foreign pigeon lands in my house, it belongs to me", explains Abdel Rahmane.

The adversary then tries to recover the bird during the next games or pays a ransom, specifies the thirty-something who has endowed his animals with "rings" indicating their dates of birth and contact details.

Far from the peaks reached by their racing counterparts, the prices of these pigeons are however set according to similar criteria (race, color of plumage or endurance), assures Mr. Gamal, who paid between 20 and 1,000 Egyptian pounds (1 to 50 euros) per bird.

These "pigeon wars" also shake the sky at sunset in Lebanon, where the capital is proud of its rock "Raouché" (the "Pigeon Cave"), an iconic attraction celebrating birds.

- Wanted food -

At the same time, the pigeon is also appreciated for its meat.

Ancestral recipes exist from Morocco to the Gulf, via Egypt where the "hamâm mahchi" - squab stuffed with rice or crushed wheat - is a sought-after dish, especially for its supposed aphrodisiac properties.

"The Egyptians have an ancient belief in the fact that the pigeon gives strength to the bridegroom on the wedding night," said Khaled Ali, manager of the Farahat restaurant, in a district west of Cairo.

The sign can serve hundreds of pigeons a day, especially to newlyweds, according to the restaurant owner.

But at 70 pounds a piece, it's still expensive "for those who can't afford it."

Visiting Cairo, the Jordanian Bashar Malkaoui had a great time.

"If you want to embrace Cairo in the best possible way, you have to eat stuffed pigeon," said this medical student.

On the contrary, Omar Gamal considers this practice sacrilegious, although the poultry used in cooking comes from a farm intended for consumption.

"Someone who loves pigeons cannot appreciate the taste of them."

© 2021 AFP