Alexandria youth 'protecting library from looters'

Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina issues message of thanks to young people he says are defending building from 'thugs'
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Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina in calmer times. Photograph: Sandro Vannini/Corbis


In a statement on the library's site, Ismail Serageldin tells "friends around the world" that the library is being protected by the city's youth from the threat of looting by the "lawless bands of thugs, and maybe agents provocateurs" who have materialised since the popular protests sweeping through Egypt's major cities began several days ago.


The library is to stay closed while the political uncertainty continues and a curfew remains in place, but Serageldin is sanguine for its security. "The library is safe thanks to Egypt's youth, whether they be the staff of the library or the representatives of the demonstrators, who are joining us in guarding the building from potential vandals and looters," he promises.

Makeshift militias are being formed across Egypt to prevent looters from targeting ordinary neighbourhoods amid reports on Egyptian state television of looters breaking in to Cairo's Egyptian museum.

Founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, Alexandria was formerly the Egyptian capital and remains its second largest city. The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which has shelf space for 8m books, was opened in 2002 after a long campaign to recreate the lost library of ancient times. President Hosni Mubarak, against whose regime protesters are demonstrating, was a leading supporter of the project.

The ancient Library of Alexandria, established under the Ptolemaic dynasty, was the largest of the ancient world but was burned down by Julius Caesar in 48 BC, with its successor building also destroyed, in the fourth century.

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