THE case for repatriation of an Egyptian mummy from its current resting place in Cork city has lost one of its most vocal supporters after he stood down as head of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Antiquities.

EGYPT’S military rulers have called for an end to strikes and protests as thousands of state employees, from ambulance drivers to police and transport workers, demonstrated to demand better pay in a growing wave of labour unrest unleashed by the democracy uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Egypt was hit by a wave of pay strikes by public sector workers today, even as the interim government managed to virtually clear out demonstrators from Tahrir Square.