Egypt begins demolishing ex-ruling party's HQ in Cairo

Egyptian workers work on the demolition site of the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) 's headquarters which was torched in 2011, in downtown Cairo, Egypt, on May 31, 2015. The demolition of the damaged headquarters of NDP, which was a symbol of the "Revolution" in 2011, ousting Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak, started on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Monday, June 1, 2015

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CAIRO -- Egypt has started on Sunday to demolish headquarters of the country's former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in central Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square where mass protests ended ex-President Hosni Mubarak's almost 30-year rule more than four years ago.

The government announced that the undertaking to raze the 15-storey building, set ablaze by protestors during the 2011 anti-government demonstrations, has begun.

The Egyptian cabinet made the decision to take dismantle the deserted structure in April, without detailing how it is going to use the land once the demolition is completed.

Many in the country consider the burned building a symbol of the social unheaval that first started in Tunisia, and then spread across the Middle East, resulting in a series of downfall of governments in the region.

Inside the Egyptian government, officials have also differed over what to do with the edifice.

Mubarak, who headed the NDP, held meetings with party members and issued statements from this headquarter, has recently been acquitted of charges of corruption and cleared of responsibility for the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution.

The NDP was dissolved by court order in April 2011 and its assets were seized by the state.

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