Growing uncertainty over Sadat's passport sale at US auction

Egyptian MP Karim Sadat submitted an urgent statement to parliament on Saturday regarding the sale of the diplomatic passport of his grandfather, the late President Anwar Sadat, at the American Heritage World Auction.

Sadat the grandson called on the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities in Egypt to submit statements regarding the exit and sale of the passport outside Egypt.

Karim Sadat said in the urgent statement that "the late president gave a lot to the homeland in his life and does not deserve to have his passport sold in a foreign auction house, this is an insult that is not accepted by the family, MPs or Egyptians."

The grandson wondered "how the passport came out even though Sadat's possessions are only in the Abu al-Kom Museum, the Pharaonic Village and the Library of Alexandria."

In a subsequent comment with the program "Tahrir Hall" channel "Sada al-Balad", Karim said that "Mrs. Jihan Sadat handed over all his grandfather's belongings to the Library of Alexandria, and that the auction house offered the passport for $ 47,<> and sold it for this amount, and it must be recovered as it happens with antiquities."

For its part, the BA denied any relationship with the passport in question, and the director of the library, Ahmed Zayed, said in media statements, "Mrs. Jehan Sadat did not hand over the passport to the BA, and we have nothing to do with the whole matter."

In turn, Sadat's daughter, Ruqayya Sadat, told Sky News Arabia that she "does not know anything about the rumors, and the family has not yet verified the nature of what happened, and we demand the opening of an investigation and taking legal action against those who handed over the passport to the auction hall after verifying the matter."

For its part, the American auction house Heritage said in its presentation of the passport that "it was issued on March 19, 1974, and was renewed on March 18, 1979 and remained in force until March 18, 1981."

She described the passport as "48 pages, printed in Arabic and French, and the flexible leather cover is written in Arabic and French, and translated in English.

The second and third pages contain a statement from the Egyptian foreign minister requesting assistance to its holder, Mohamed Anwar Sadat, while the fourth and fifth pages contain Sadat's personal information, a black-and-white photograph of him, and a visa stamped in 1974.

The auction house explained that the passport was valid on all Sadat's trips, including his trip to Israel on November 19, 1977, and his trip to the United States in 1978 to sign the Camp David Accords, and that it had a slight erosion.