Sahar Hassanien – Anadolu Agency
CAIRO
A decision by the local authorities in the historic Egyptian city of Luxor to rename a main square in the city after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sparked a controversy in the city.
The authorities say the moves comes in appreciation of the Saudi support for Egypt. Saudi Arabia has supported Egypt's military-backed interim government since the July 3 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected head of state. Since then, Riyadh has pledged $5 billion in aid to shore up Egypt's faltering economy.
"During a meeting with Luxor governor Tareq Saad al-Din, we proposed renaming the Al-Tegara Square (Trade Square) after the Saudi king, and he agreed," Bakri Abdel-Gelil, head of the syndicate of bazaars' owners, said.
On Saturday, local workers moved in to decorate the square in preparations for a ceremony to re-open the square with its new name.
Sidewalks were maintained as two big posters of the Saudi monarch were hung at the square, one of the city's biggest and oldest squares, in the presence of the governor.
Luxor, considered the world's largest open-air museum, is one of Egypt's top tourist attractions.
- Anger
The move sparked anger among some of the city's residents. Some even threatened to tear down the posters in protest, prompting security officials to deploy reinforcements backed by an armored vehicle to secure the square, eyewitnesses said.
"We don't want the square named after King Abdullah," Ali Abdel-Salam, a mechanic, said.
"He was an ally to [toppled President Hosni] Mubarak and was not satisfied about the Egyptian revolution in 2011," he said, referring to the close links between the Saudi king and the former president Mubarak toppled after 30 years in power.
"We respect and appreciate King Abdullah's current stance towards Egypt, but Egypt can pay back the favor in other means," he added.
Yet, Abdel-Gelil said he was unfazed by the critics' anger. The square was named after a school in the area, and this school had long been relocated, he said. "We needed a new name," he added.
Egypt’s relations with oil-rich Gulf countries had been strained during Morsi's one year in office. King Abdullah was the first Arab and foreign leader to congratulate interim president Adly Mansour after his swearing-in ceremony.
The Saudi monarch's stances led some Luxor residents to back the decision. "Saudi Arabia had honorable positions towards Egypt, whether during the 1973 war with Israel and others," Nasser Fathi, a Luxor resident, said.
"The latest of such stances was standing with Egypt against the Muslim Brotherhood and the countries that tried to economically pressure Egypt or threaten it with aid," he added.
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