Egyptian blinkers

A few stories from the land of the Pharaohs:

Firstly, a little bit of hypocrisy by Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk's Hosny, who failed last month to become head of Unesco - the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - when the post went to Bulgarian Irina Bokova.

Mr Hosny has accused the UN of 'politicising' the election which he said he lost because of "Zionist pressures" (you have got to laugh), but the reality was that last year Mr Hosny said he would burn "Israeli books in Egyptian libraries". A minister for 22 years, he has refused to visit Israel and although there are no written laws to stop writers from travelling to Israel to promote their books, those who have tried have been castigated - even ostracised - by Egyptian society.

Despite the fact that technically Israel and Egypt are at peace, the al-Ahram Media Group, the largest such group in Egypt, has voted to boycott Israel. The group's journalists are no longer allowed to interview Israelis, while the organisation refuses invitations to events where Israelis are participating.

What sort of UNESCO was Mr Hosny planning to run .... one without the Jewish writers, and scientists etc?