Our good friend Dr. Zahi is furious, of course, but the attempted sale of some hair of Ramsees II. by the son of a French archaeologist has led to serious diplomatic trouble between Egypt and France.
A French postman who tried to sell online what he claimed were strands of hair from the mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II was being held by police yesterday. Jean-Michel Diebolt, 50, was arrested at his home in Grenoble after he placed an advertisement on a website offering strands of hair and tiny fragments of the funeral cloth from the 3,200 year-old mummy for €2,000 (£1,300). He claimed to have obtained the pieces from his late father, a researcher who had been part of a French team which analysed the mummy in the 1970s.
Here’s the revenge? Nine French nationals were arrested during the past week-end in Egypt on charges of planning terrorist attacks in the region.
bet you 10 dh they turn out to be 4 Moroccans-, 3 Algerians- and the rest Tunisian-French. or something close to that number.
I think the news reports said something to that effect – I assume you’d have more of an outcry from the embassy (and a bigger splash in the press) if they were “francais de souche.” Thankfully for them they are not being tried by the Egyptians but have been sent back to France.
Now now – when I spoke to the French attaché last night and asked him if the Frenchmen were of North African origin, he gave me exactly the answer I expect from a well-trained diplomat: “We do not make distinctions among our citizens based on their ethnic origins.”
And I am a member of the Iroquois Nation- not.
Let me know when you need my address to send that 10 dh- can I have a pair of babouche instead? 🙂
He said that with a straight face?
I’d like to see them descend on CEDEJ and lock up a few of those francais…you can bet it would be front-page news at le Monde. This should actually be a warning for all furrners who thought their passports were protection against the arbitrary whims of the security state.
Not all were of North African origin, apparently:
“Peu de détails ont filtré sur la date d’arrivée et les activités de ces jeunes Français, qui sont des convertis pour certains et des musulmans d’origine maghrébine et d’Afrique noire pour d’autres. Agés en moyenne de 25 ans, ils proviennent en majorité de la région parisienne, mais aussi d’autres villes de France, et pourraient donc s’être rencontrés au Caire.”
(Le Monde)
Sorry for the 10 dh and the babouche!
By the way, I do think that my passport and my “français-de-souche” face were a good protection when I was in Cairo (in CEDEJ…).
Holy shit those mummies = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
sell the Pyramids and give the proceeds to Husni Mubarak
Ya right!
Thanks Benjamin! No worries- I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere!
Jean Marie Le Pen must be having a field day.
Here’s the latest from AP – most of the francais were bundled back to France but one remains in Egyptian custody, along with one American, and US state dept officials are being denied access to their national.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701723.html