It seems that the curse of the Pharaohs continues to cast its spell over Egypt's antiquities, Nevine El-Aref reports Although Prime Minister Essam Sharaf tasked Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, secretary- general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), with supervising the SCA's archaeological and administrative work -- he was given ministerial authority -- Abdel-Fattah insists on resigning and protesters continue their sit-in. On Tuesday, demonstrators blocked the entrance of the SCA's Al-Abbasiya building, switched off the electricity and prevented employees from entering their offices. They also drove away the security guards and locked the building's iron gate. In Aswan the situation was worse. Protesters closed the doors of Nubia Museum and Abu Simbel temples and prevented members of World Tourism Day from paying a visit to both sites. Atef Abul-Dahab, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department, told Al-Ahram Weekly that upon his arrival to the building, more than 4,000 archaeologists were blocking the entrance, waving placards calling for a bigger budget to meet their demands. Abul-Dahab said that in response to the protest, "we called the police and the military police to enable the staff to enter the building and proceed with their work." But, he continued, protesters refused to budge without their demands being met, including appointing 14,000 temporary employees whose period of work exceeds eight years. Abdel-Fattah did not go to the office yesterday and insists on his resignation. Abdel-Fattah sent an apology to Sharaf for being unable to continue supervising Egypt's antiquities portfolio for medical reasons. "I cannot take all this pressure and problems which pose a severe risk to my life," Abdel-Fattah wrote in his letter of apology. "They threw me in a bad spot," Abdel-Fattah told the Weekly. He said he cannot solve any problem concerning the SCA staff for the time being because it involves the SCA's lack of a budget and little financial resources. "How can I appoint the temporary staff and fresh graduates when I don't have enough money?" Abdel-Fattah asked. "Having the authority of a minister without a sufficient budget is nonsense," Abdel-Fattah added. He said the atmosphere at the SCA is bad "as some people inside and outside are trying to prevent any improvements." Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the Supreme Committee of the Grand Egyptian Museum, sees that the SCA problem is not about finding the suitable person to head it but requires the collaboration of all efforts in an attempt to solve the problems that Egypt's antiquities are now facing. Abdel-Maqsoud suggests that the only solution is to return the SCA to the umbrella of the government's budget. He explains that the government will provide the SCA with the sufficient budget to pay the employees' salaries, the costs of restoration projects and all its debts. In return, Abdel-Maqsoud said, the SCA will give all its income to the government which is LE1.2 billion a year. "My colleague Abdel-Fattah is facing a big problem. SCA debts are worse than was thought and there isn't any money to fund the restoration works and pay the salaries," Abdel-Maqsoud said. Abdel-Rehim Rihan, general director of archaeological research, studies and scientific publishing, said the problems of archaeologists are red lines as archaeology is a "critical and risky profession which gets nothing in return. The financial position of an archeologist is insulting." Until the Weekly went to print Sharaf did not respond to Abdel-Fattah's letter and protesters are still blocking the entrance to Al-Abbasiya building.
