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Why Egypt is placing its pyramids under military protection

Officials are taking tourists’ complaints to heart as they prepare to rejuvenate the great pyramids area, employing a company affiliated with the armed services to pick up the project that was abandoned in 2011.
Students from the Egyptian Military Academy hold up Egyptian flags at the opening of the Egyptian International Parachuting Championship, which is organized by the Egyptian Parachuting and Air Sports Federation (EPAF), in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - RTS8YH9

CAIRO — Following years of disorder and neglect at Cairo’s great pyramids, Egypt is launching a renovation program to make the area safer, cleaner and easier to navigate for tourists, and more secure for its archaeological treasures.

Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh al-Damaty has called on Queen, a national service company affiliated with the armed forces, to develop and renovate the site. A ministry official said the company has already visited the site numerous times in preparation and plans to begin work this month.

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