Egypt seeks help after peaceful revolt

In the context of a worsening economy, it can almost be read as an imperative to the world: help to save our country from ruin.

With unemployment inching upwards and the deficit widening, Egypt has become a regional case study of the economic challenges facing a country in the aftermath of a popular revolution.

GDP fell 4 per cent in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, with the tourism industry - one of the largest employers - among the worst affected. The number of visitors was down more than 35 per cent in April compared with the same month last year.

"The situation is very difficult," says Dr Zahi Hawass, the minister of state for antiquities, at his Cairo office on the leafy island of Zamalek in the middle of the Nile. "I went to California [in June]. Soon I am going to Australia. We want to tell people that it's safe to come back. They don't need to worry about protests. These happen in every country."

He speaks of protesters locking arms to form a human chain around Cairo's Egyptian Museum to protect it from looters during the revolution. "Our antiquities are still here," Dr Hawass says.

Not all protests in recent months have been non-violent. Dr Hawass was speaking just days before clashes erupted on the streets near Tahrir Square, which is the centre of the revolution and a major tourist draw. The Egyptian Museum and major hotels look on to the expansive square.