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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia claims Egypt’s pyramid for Muslims |
| 2005-12-30 |
| A team of 35 Malaysians will try to drape Egypt's great pyramid at Giza with the flags of the world's 57 Muslim countries, an official said in a televised public ceremony. Malaysia's Defense Minister Najib Razak announced the project during a ceremony Tuesday, when he presented a Malaysian flag to the team's leaders. Najib said the expedition, planned for May 18, is a"commendable effort," and comes in response to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's call to raise Malaysia's profile in the world. The flag-draping event, sponsored by Malaysia's Youth and Sports Ministry and the Selangor state government, is slated to be broadcast live on a Malaysian television channel. It was not clear if Egypt's government or antiquities department, which is responsible for the Giza site, have given permission to the so-called Malaysian peace mission team for the project - which would involve climbing the 4,600-year-old world heritage site. Malaysia, one of South-East Asia's most developed nations, is a moderate Muslim country. It wasn't immediately clear, from Najib's remarks or news reports, why an Egyptian pyramid - which predates Islam by thousands of years - was chosen for the project. Sports ministry and Selangor government officials were not immediately available for comment. The great pyramid at Giza was built by the pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops, with 3 million stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each, without any cementing material. |
| Posted by:Sholuting Jerong9172 |
| #6 My bad, SteveS - I should have said 58. :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-12-30 20:10 |
| #5 SteveS - 56? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-12-30 20:08 |
| #4 the flags of the world's 57 Muslim countries Not meaning to change the subject, but I can't help wondering how many of those 57 show up on the Guinness list of the World's Most Suckiest Countries. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-12-30 20:02 |
| #3 It wasn't immediately clear, from Najib's remarks or news reports, why an Egyptian pyramid - which predates Islam by thousands of years - was chosen for the project. Duh! For the same freakin' reason they can claim that the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount have always been Muslim sites - because they can (rewrite history to suit themselves and their dimwitted take on history)! It doesn't matter that the Temple also predates Mohammad by at least a thousand years. It doesn't matter that the Great Pyramid predates Mohammed by at least 5 thousand years. They're obviously Muslim artifacts handed down by Allah thousands of years before Khufu and the Hebrews slaved to build the edifices. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2005-12-30 18:13 |
| #2 Getting permission may not be easy unless they promise to get the head of the antiquities departments plenty of face time on TV. He likes being the "Star." |
| Posted by: Mahou Sensei Negi-bozu 2005-12-30 18:12 |
| #1 "...without any cementing material." I had never heard that tidbit before. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2005-12-30 17:24 |