Egypt to destroy torched building of Mubarak’s party

Ousted president’s former HQ, burned down during the 2011 uprising, now the focus of Cairo real-estate battles

By AP 16 April 2015, 2:55 am

Edit

Former National Democratic Party (NDP) headquarters, which was torched during the 2011 uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

CAIRO — Egypt’s government on Wednesday ordered the army’s corps of engineers to demolish the headquarters of ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s now-defunct party, a towering structure on the Nile which was torched by protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his rule.

The government decided to demolish the National Democratic Party’s headquarters nearly a year ago, but the fate of the site — prime real-estate alongside the city’s central Tahrir Square — has been a source of contention.

The Antiquities Ministry says the land belongs to the adjacent Egyptian Museum, home to the country’s Pharaonic treasures. The Cairo governorate has also claimed the land.

Government spokesman Hossam Qawish said Wednesday’s decision only concerns the demolition of the building, not the fate of the land. He said the timing of the demolition is a technical decision.