Pyramids in peril

 
Published: Tuesday 31 January 1995

-- The Great Pyramids of Giza -- one of the 7 wonders of the world -- are threatened by a Cairo ring road. Anxious to ensure the priceless structures' survival, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has hauled up the Egyptian government for a 3-mile section of an 8-lane highway that cuts across a un-designated world heritage site within the pyramids' vicinity.

In November 1994, to appease critics, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak halted the construction of the 62-mile highway. A month later, the government said that it might loop the road to over 3 miles away from the pyramids. unesco officials, however, pessimistically brand the proposal "a camouflage".

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