Berlin - Head of the Egyptian Museum in Leipzig, Dishrich Rao, expressed his support for Egyptian ambassador Moushira Khattab as Egypt's 2017 nominee for UNESCO director-general, and stressed that Egyptian cultural and historical heritage make it the world's most eligible country for this post. The comments were made during a lecture, delivered by Rao, on Egypt and archaeological excavations. The lecture took place at the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin in the presence of Badr Abdel Atti, Ambassador of Egypt to Germany, Ambassador Moushira Khattab, as well as a large number of archaeologists, scientists and researchers. In July 2016, Egypt decided to nominate Khattab for the post of UNESCO director- general in the elections scheduled in 2017. The nomination of Khattab is not the first of its kind, as Egypt had previously nominated the founding director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Ismael Serag El-Din for the UNESCO director-general position in 2014. Former Minister of Culture of the Mubarak era, Farouk Hosni had also been nominated for the same post in 2009. Rao, who also leads the German delegation of the Matareya monuments discovery, said that the excavations will continue in the Al-Matareya district, adding that digging inside a densely populated area such as Al-Matareya is not as easy as in Luxor or Aswan, praising the support provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities on this matter.
