Egypt's antiquities minister fired

According to the Associated Press, the 64-year-old Hawass was fired under pressure from critics who accused him of being too close to the regime of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Hawass was only one of about a dozen ministers who lost their jobs in a Cabinet reshuffle aimed at easing pressure from protesters seeking to purge remnants of the Mubarak regime.

"He was the Mubarak of antiquities," said activist and archaeologist Nora Shalaby. "He acted as if he owned Egypt's antiquities, and not that they belonged to the people of Egypt."

Although Hawass was believed by many to be the main force behind the boost in interest in Egypt's archaeology and tourism, protesters listed him as one of the Cabinet ministers who had to go because they were associated with the former regime.

Mubarak was toppled in February 2011, following a revolution in the North African country.

Hawass described himself as the "keeper and guardian" of Egypt's heritage and became the general director of antiquities at the Giza plateau in the late 1980s, before being named Egypt's top archaeologist in 2002.

Hawass was appointed by Mubarak as Egypt's Antiquities Minister, but the veteran archeologist resigned after Mubarak's ouster and was reinstated before finally being removed Sunday.

Hawass started to recover Egyptian antiquities since he took the helm of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities in 2002.