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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Celebrating Le Monde
By Nadia Abou El Magd
A conference was organised in Cairo last Sunday by Al-Ahram Regional Press Institute entitled Egypt and France are partners in the Middle East to celebrate the distribution in Egypt of Le Monde's regional edition, which began publishing six months ago in Beirut. Youssef Boutros Ghali, economy minister, inaugurated the conference by declaring that cultural ties are a necessary basis for political and economic relationships.
"There is no cultural sensitivity; Egypt acknowledges France's international weight. Egyptians shouldn't be upset by a mistake [the French invasion which occurred] 200 years ago. We should forget the past and look towards the future," Ghali told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Speaking in French, the Francophone Ghali downplayed the importance of the large trade deficit in France's favour. He said that he believes that the success of any partnership does not necessarily depend on a trade balance between the partners so much as on the exchange of benefits and interests. "Figures don't show a balance in our partnership, but this balance exists in one way or another," he added.
Le Monde, one of the largest-circulation dailies in France is renowned for its political analyses and economic news. It was established in 1944 and its current readership in France stands around 500,000. Five thousand copies of the Middle East edition are published in Lebanon and Le Monde is expecting a wider circulation in Egypt. Newspaper officials are also considering a special edition for Egypt and potential markets in Syria and the United Arab Emirates. Publishing in Arabic, however, is not under consideration.
"Our goals are not only commercial and political, but we also seek to spread the French language and culture; this is part of our philosophy," Lucien George, the director in charge of the Middle East edition and Le Monde correspondent in Beirut for more than 25 years, told the Weekly. George, who is Lebanese, also said that "we are betting on French being the language of culture, which will add to the cultural richness of Egypt, but this is not a war against the English language."
Both Mahdi Fathallah, the Egyptian foreign minister's assistant for European affairs, and François Dopffer, the French ambassador in Cairo, placed emphasis on the special relationship between Egypt and France. However, Robert Sole, one of Le Monde's editors, wondered if this "idealistic perfect relationship is reflected in relations between the two peoples," considering the economic gap and cultural differences between them.
Fathallah responded jokingly that "this is not a question but a trap." However, he added: "I can say as an Egyptian, and not merely as a diplomat, that the man-in-the-street appreciates the fair and balanced French policies."
Dopffer said: "The relationship between the Egyptian and French elites is excellent. But we cannot generalise and say that the 60 million Egyptians and the 60 million French are in love; what we can say is that the relationship between the two peoples is generally very good."
Although the French ambassador said that the role played by the economy in people's lives should not be minimised, he affirmed his belief that culture is capable, in the long run, of surmounting economic and political difficulties. Dopffer also announced that France was going to buy a piece of land this week on which to establish the first French university in Egypt.
Mufid Shehab, minister of higher education and scientific research, said that cultural relations between the two countries go back to the start of the 19th century, during Mohamed Ali's rule, and are continuing until the present.
Shehab said that one objective of the French campaign of 1798 was to culturally discover Egypt and for this reason Napoleon Bonaparte's army was accompanied by a large number of scientists. The view has been the subject of controversy; there are those who describe the campaign as a military aggression while others emphasise its scientific achievements.
Jean-Yves Empereur, director of the Centre for Alexandria Studies, showed slides to explain the excavation work of his team in Alexandria.
Empereur said that, in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), the centre's archaeological mission started the underwater excavation in 1994 below the Mameluke fort of Qait Bey, which had been built on the remains of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria. The excavation revealed nearly 5,000 gigantic blocks of stone on the seabed, most of which are colossal statues, sphinxes, columns and bases.
The most remarkable statues taken off the seabed are those of Ptolemy I and of a woman from the Ptolemaic era in the form of a red granite bust with a broken head. Four submerged fragments of obelisks with their bases were also found. Other pieces in the collection date from the reigns of Seti I and Ramses II as well as some kings of the 26th Dynasty.
Another Franco-Egyptian team, which is working in the archaeological area beside the Alexandria library, has discovered many Graeco-Roman artefacts as well as Mameluke coins, mosaic floors and ceilings and the remains of vases and mirrors. Coloured ceramics bearing the image of a dog were also unearthed at a Roman villa found in the area.
Jean Pierre Corteggiani, public relations director at the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology, said that 120 French missions are working in different sites in Egypt, including Abu-Rawash, Karnak Temple, an area south of Saqqara, and the Valleys of the Kings and the Queens on the west bank of Luxor.
"French missions are responsible for one fifth of the excavation work in Egypt," Corteggiani stated.
Additional reporting by Nevine El-Aref
