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President mourns brother

PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK yesterday paid last respects to his brother Ahmed Sami Mubarak who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 70. Attending the funeral were senior state officials, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Pope Shenouda and the secretary- general of the Arab League.

Pilgrims die

SEVEN Egyptians were killed and 38 were injured when their bus crashed near the Jordanian port of Aqaba.

The passengers were returning from Saudi Arabia after performing the umra (lesser pilgrimage), and were due to board a ferry on the Red Sea that would have taken them to Sinai's Nuweiba port.

The accident occurred in Dabat Hanoot, 50 kilometres north of Aqaba. Initial police reports said the bus driver had dozed off. An additional report said the brakes had malfunctioned.

Those injured were transported to four hospitals in Aqaba while the bodies of the dead will be sent to Egypt. One body remains unidentified.

Sudan peace

FOREIGN MINISTER Ahmed Abul-Gheit flies to Nairobi today to head Egypt's delegation at a UN Security Council meeting to be held in the Kenyan capital to discuss the future of Sudan's peace process. The unusual out-of-New York council meeting is expected to adopt a resolution urging the Sudanese government to actively pursue peace with militant opposition groups in Darfur and finalise its peace deal with the Sudanese People's Liberation Army.

Dutch talks

FOREIGN Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit is to take part in a ministerial level meeting in The Netherlands of the Barcelona process that brings together member states of the European Union, along with Israel and Arab countries overlooking the Mediterranean.

At The Hague later this month, Abul-Gheit is expected to discuss prospects of invigorating the long-dormant Palestinian- Israeli negotiations.

"After the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the EU promised to revive the Palestinian-Israeli talks and we want to hold them at its word," commented a Foreign Ministry source.

The Barcelona meetings begin 29 November.

On 24 November Abul-Gheit is to visit Israel along with intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. for talks on post-Arafat Palestinian-Israeli moves with an eye on implementing the Israeli plan to withdraw from Gaza. The talks come as part of what some Egyptian diplomats describe as "the ultimate objective of implementing the roadmap" and to build a viable and independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Meanwhile, Egypt is planning to host a new round of talks for several Palestinian factions as early as next week.

Egypt is also considering providing legal assistance to the upcoming presidential elections in the occupied territories scheduled for 9 January.

A unique discovery

EARLIER this month, at Luxor's Dra'a Abul-Naga necropolis, next to the remains of King Nub-Kheper-Re Intef's brick pyramid, German archaeologists discovered a 13th dynasty sarcophagus while excavating in an unknown tomb- shaft, reports Nevine El-Aref.

While brushing the sand off the bottom of the shaft, an antechamber appeared. A second, smaller one soon became visible. Deeper excavation revealed a third chamber, along with a huge decorated wooden sarcophagus that nearly blocked its entrance.

"It is really one of the largest sarcophagi of its kind," said Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who said tomb robbers had been unable to enter the burial chamber, and had instead broken through it at the bottom and emptied it out.

Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said the outer part of the sarcophagus bears carved horizontal inscriptions featuring its owner's name, Imeny, while its entire interior is decorated with colourful, beautifully preserved depictions and coffin text inscriptions.

Hawass said another part of the sarcophagus featured a vertical column inscribed with the name of Imeny's wife, Gehset. Interestingly, the inscriptions on the inner wooden coffin are also dedicated to her. This, Hawass suggested, probably meant the sarcophagus was originally prepared for Imeny, but was then, for reasons unknown, used to bury his wife.

Upper Egypt antiquities director Holayel Ghali said preliminary studies of both the sarcophagus and the pottery found nearby (including beer containers, and the skull and foreleg of a calf), suggest that the sarcophagus dates back to the late 13 dynasty, making it the first coffin of its type to be found in the Theban necropolis since the 1820s, when a similar sarcophagus, belonging to a lady named Mentohotep, was found.

"It is an absolutely unique piece," said Daniel Polz, head of the German excavation mission. Polz said that once the sarcophagus was removed from the shaft and carefully studied, it should be put on display at the Luxor Museum, which only houses a few objects from the earlier part of the Second Theban Intermediate Period -- the period that ultimately paved the ground for the expulsion of the Hyksos from the Delta, and the establishment of subsequent New Kingdom dynasties.