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The Official Inauguration
The Egyptian Government has announced that the Official Inauguration Ceremony
for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina that was postponed from 23 April 2002, due to
events in the Middle East, took place on 16 October 2002 in Alexandria, Egypt.
The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated by the President of the Arab
Republic of Egypt in the presence of Heads of State and other dignitaries from
around the world on 16 October 2002 in Alexandria, Egypt and The Library complex
is already open to visitors.
The library's inauguration was initially planned for last April and postponed because of almost-daily student protests in Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities in support of the Palestinian uprising against Israel.
Its inauguration comes amid a brewing US-led showdown with Iraq over its alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, a topic discussed earlier here by Mubarak and his guest French President Jacques Chirac.
Chirac as well as Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos were among hundreds of foreign guests in this Mediterranean port city, named after its ancient Greek warrior-founder Alexander the Great.
Others topping the list were Romanian
President Ion Iliescu, as well as Queens Sofia of Spain and Rania of Jordan.
Egyptian government newspapers said Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri had been expected, but Beirut said he was busy with a cabinet meeting ahead of a summit of French-speaking nations at home.
Writers, poets, historians and intellectuals from around the globe, including 14 Nobel laureates of various fields, were here.
Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1986and a member of the library's board of trustees, also hoped the ancient glory days would return.
"Let it provide solace for much that has been lost, destroyed and pillaged. Let it serve as inspiration for the flowering that is yet to come," Soyinka said in his speech.