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Cairo's heritage sites threatened with demolition

Restoration projects and demolitions are not only threatening the historical character of Old Cairo, but also causing forced displacements and anger among residents.
Men carry out cleaning work at Al-Azhar Mosque, in the old Islamic area of Cairo May 8, 2014. As the Egyptian state presses its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the man expected to become president has deployed a new weapon in the battle with the Islamists: his own vision of Islam. Sisi, the former army chief who deposed the Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi and is expected to be elected president later this month, has cast himself as a defender of religion and taken aim at the doctrinal foundations of Islami
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CAIRO — Egypt has made several requests through various forums for assistance in protecting world heritage sites in the country from terror and other physical attacks. For instance, UNESCO's Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict met May 21 to discuss plans for Egyptian heritage sites after the government requested special protection for the ancient city of Thebes. At the same time, however, the Cairo governorate appears bent on demolishing homes and other buildings in historic Old Cairo without regard for their potential and actual heritage value.

On May 4, the Cairo governorate completed the removal of residential buildings on ​​18 acres in the ​Ezbet Abu Qarn area of Old Cairo in a three-day demolition campaign. Governorate authorities claimed the buildings were “encroachments on the governorate’s land.” Maher Subhi, an engineer and Old Cairo district chief, said the 34 residential buildings had been illegally built and stressed the need to form a urban planning commission to develop and implement a plan for the area.

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