Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim asks Egypt's Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri to hand over headquarters of the former president's party, as research proves it used to be part of the museum garden Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim submitted an official request on Tuesday to Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri asking that he hand over the land which the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) building stands upon so that it can be merged with the Egyptian Museum. The party headquarters of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, which was partially burnt down duringJanuary 25 Revolution, is located behind the museum. Ibrahim told Ahram online that research carried out by the survey and property department of the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), showed that the area used to be a part of the museum and so formerly belonged to the MSA. Originally, the museum extended to Mariette street on the Nile cornice, where the NDP headquarters now stand. When the museum was constructed in 1901, it covered a 38,919m2 area stretching as far as the Nile, where a dock was built to welcome cruises from Luxor and Aswan. In addition, Ibrahim added, the current burnt NDP building is considered unsafe and liable to collapse at any time, which could potentially damage the museum. “The burnt building... would be another tourist attraction, like the Berlin Wall,” Ibrahim suggested adding that it was a part of Egypt's history of the January 25 Revolution. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/35605.aspx
