A former Egyptian minister from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government has been confirmed as a candidate for the next director general of Unesco, a decision overshadowed by recent demolitions in Cairo’s City of the Dead. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Ahmed Abu Zeid, wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday that Egypt’s former minister of tourism and antiquities, Khaled al-Anani, had been approved by the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers as a candidate for the position.1

....

Among the locations listed as Unesco World Heritage sites is Cairo’s City of the Dead, a necropolis which contains mausoleums of prominent historic rulers, singers, poets, royal family members and Islamic scholars, as well as artefacts from the Mamluk era.

The announcement was met with criticism after bulldozers resumed the destruction of mausoleums that some Egyptian academics and architects consider to be a significant part of Egypt’s Islamic and modern heritage which combines Mamluk, Ottoman, and European architecture. 

....

• 1. “The Council of Arab Foreign Ministers approves the candidacy of Dr Khaled al-Anani as an Arab candidate for the position of Director General of Unesco for the period 2025-2029, as part of endorsing Arab nominations for a number of international positions,” Abu Zeid wrote.