An antiquities restoration engineer works at the Islamic Art Museum, which was damaged by a car bomb attack targeting the nearby Cairo Security Directorate on Friday, in downtown Cairo January 26, 2014 (Photo: reuters)
An archaeological team from UNESCO is set to inspect the Museum of Islamic Arts (MIA) which was badly damaged last week in a bomb attack targeting Cairo's central police headquarters across the street.
Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of State for Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the team will assess damages to the museum's structure and prized collection, check on the preservation process for some of the most badly-ruined artefacts and tour the surrounding Bab Al-Khalq neighbourhood, home to four important mosques as well as Egypt's National Library and Archives (NLA), all of which also suffered extensive damage in the bomb blast.
An international fundraising campaign is expected to be launched soon in order to immediately begin the restoration process for the museum, the archives and nearby monuments.
A press conference will be held at the conclusion of the UNESCO tour in order to announce the results of the damages and field suggestions as to how to return the museum to its original state.
The museum had received a multi-million dollar renovation only a few years before the blast on 24 January.
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