Mummies in Egypt's national museum destroyed by looters trying to steal treasures of King Tutankhamun

This looting and vandalism is terribly under reported! What happened to the outrage in our press and academia as followed the looting after the fall of Baghdad in Iraq? There the blame was placed on the U. S. Troops for not protecting the ancient treasures.

There is a second component to this problem in preservation of Museums and their treasured contents. It is ironic that just a week ago, reported January 24, 2011: "A German foundation rejected Monday an Egyptian request to return the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti, a sculpture which draws over one million viewers annually to a Berlin museum."

Fortunately, it was not returned and is safe as are the Egyptian Collections in Britain, France and the United States,. However, the issue is always a touchy one weighing possession against actual ownership, access and security must be considered. [Mooserider]

Egypt protests: U.S. advises all Americans to leave and 30,000 Brits are stranded | Mail Online

Britons trapped in the country were told by the Foreign Office yesterday to stay clear of the nationwide violence and abide by a 4pm curfew ordered by President Hosni Mubarak.

The British Government also advised against all non-essential travel to Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria and Suez as all flights from the UK to Egypt were cancelled.

One BMI flight en route to Cairo from London was turned around at 30,000ft as the situation worsened yesterday.

British Airways chartered an extra aircraft to rescue stranded tourists from Cairo as its airport witnessed chaotic scenes, with tourists desperately trying to flee the violence.

Yesterday mummies in the country's national museum were destroyed by looters attempting to steal the treasures of King Tutankhamun.

Soldiers were positioned at the Pyramids and Cairo’s Egyptian Museum – the holding place for Tutankhamun’s priceless golden mask and other artifacts – on the fifth day of anti-government demonstrations in the country’s capital.

The military deployment came amid an almost complete collapse of law and order, with the violence escalating outside the capital. Residents in Alexandria, north-west of Cairo, were forced to stand guard outside their homes armed with sticks as gangs rampaged through the city.

The death toll was estimated to have reached 74 yesterday, with at least 48 of those being killed since Friday and 2,000 people suffering injuries.

President Mubarak also gave the first indication of a succession plan when he announced that his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, had been appointed his deputy, a position last filled by the president himself 30 years ago.

The latest wave of violence has been most notable for the widespread looting, indicative of the scale of the breakdown in law and order.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351826/Egypt-protests-U-S-advises-Americans-leave-30-000-Brits-stranded.html#ixzz1Cd90pbL1