The diplomatic passport that belonged to President Anwar Sadat was to be sold at auction.
On hearing this news and acting on orders from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the authorities recovered the document, which had been put up for sale by a US auction hall in February.
Sadat’s family demanded an investigation and the prosecution of those responsible for this heinous act.
Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Ahmed Zayed said the passport, his military uniforms, some letters in his handwriting and his hallmark swagger sticks, donated by Sadat’s family, are now on display at the library’s Sadat Museum, coinciding with the anniversary of 10 Ramadan Victory.
Among the donated items is the key to el-Arish with which he was presented, medal and a cup when was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978.
According to information from the Heritage Hall, Sadat’s diplomatic passport was issued on 18 March 1974 and bears the number 1, and was valid until 18 March 1981.
Sadat carried his passport, which contained only one visa, on his historic journeys to Israel on 19 November 1977 and the US in 1978, when he met US President Jimmy Carter.
The 48-page passport is printed in Arabic and French. Its leather cover is flexible, bearing the crest and name of the republic in gold lettering, also in Arabic and French. The second and third pages have a printed statement from the Minister of Foreign Affairs requesting aid and assistance to its bearer, Mohamed Anwar Sadat, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Sadat’s personal details accompanied by a black-and-white photograph are on page four, while on page five is a visa stamp dated 1974.
The auction house described the overall condition of the passport as good with “very slight wear”.
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