CAIRO: Egypt and Kazakhstan signed Sunday an agreement to restore Al-Zahir Rukn Al-Din Baybars Mosque in Old Cairo with a joint funding of up to $1 million.
Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawas and Baghdad Amriev, Kazakh ambassador in Cairo, signed the agreement at the SCA headquarters.
The Arab Contractors Company will handle the restoration efforts, which will take around three years, Amriev told Daily News Egypt after the signing.
Baybars, a Kazakh native (1223-1277), is famous for defeating both the Crusaders and the Mongols when he was a commander of the Mamluks under Sultan Qutuz and later when he became a sultan himself, ruling Egypt and Damascus.
Baybars Mosque has historical significance for Egypt and the Islamic world, said Amriev, emphasizing the common history and culture of Kazakhstan and the Arab worl
