When Sotheby's announced last week that a highly significant archive of materials belonging to the Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz was scheduled for auction, it sparked considerable interest in Egypt. The items are scheduled for sale this Thursday, 15 December, four days after the author's birth centenary. Sotheby's did not identify the seller. Shakir Abdel Hamid, the Minister of Culture, has announced that the ministry is taking urgent measures to stop this auction. Abdel Hamidsaid thatafter Sotheby's announcementlast week, he received numerous inquiries fromthe intellectual community. Hethencontacted the Ministerof Foreign AffairsMohamed KamelAmr,who has since contacted the EgyptianAmbassador in Londonand asked him to takeurgent actionto stop theauction. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/29266.aspx