Another call for Egypt's PM to save antiquities

Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref)

An official letter, signed by top officials and legal consultants in the ministry of state for antiquities affairs, call for the Egypt’s PM Essam Sharaf to appoint a minister of antiquities immediately.

Three weeks following Sharaf’s decision for antiquities to separate antiquities from the ministry of culture, leaving it an independent body among the cabinet echelon, the antiquities department is leaderless. To date the cabinet has not yet appointed a leader for the Antiquities Department, and at this point whether the title is ‘minister’ or ‘director’ seems to be of secondary importance to those working in the antiquities field in Egypt.

“No one is responsible for Egypt’s antiquities,” Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, director of the central administration for antiquities in Alexandria and Lower Egypt, told Ahram Online. He continued that this has led to the absence of security and administration. These have been halted as there is no leader to take decisions on antiquities or to continue working.