CAIRO: According to local reports, Egypt's minister of antiquities Zahi Hawass has resigned his post. The move came as Prime Minister Essam Sharaf informed the country's well-known Egyptologist that he would not be continuing on in his position. Egyptian daily newspaper al-Youm al-Saba'a also reported that upon hearing the news, angry archaeologists, who had been camped out in front of the ministry, allegedly chased the embattled minister throughout the streets before his bodyguards were able to get Hawass into a taxi. The move comes after a series of Bikya Masr articles detailing Hawass' transgressions as a minister and the widespread anger and resentment over his continued position as minister. The New York Times also recently published an article that detailed the man's large financial sums he takes from international publications in order to appear on their television programs. Hawass had been pushing for the return of all Egyptian artifacts to the country during his time as Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, which became the ministry of antiquities during a reshuffle of the Cabinet by former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in early February in an attempt to appease protests against the 31-year-old regime. Last month, the now former minister won an appeal against an earlier conviction over a dispute with a Cairo bookstore. Hawass nor the ministry have yet to make an official statement, although a number of sources say that Abdel Fattah al-Banna has been appointed to take over the ministry. BM
