Egypt’s Ministry of Interior cancelled the annual Le Marché, a leading furniture fair that has been held in Cairo for the past 32 years.
Speaking to state media Al-Ahram, a security source said the event was cancelled by police as they could not complete the necessary security preparations to ensure full security to all attendees. The security source also said that they could not guarantee the necessary procedures for evacuation in case of a fire emergency.
The furniture fair was set to be held at the Cairo International Conferences Center (CICC) between 22 to 25 December.
Reacting to the cancellation, organizers of the fair urged President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to intervene to allow the fair to be held. Organizers argue that the cancellation will cost both the exhibitors and the organizers hundreds of millions of pounds.
Set up by Tarek Nour, the fair was set to feature hundreds of exhibitors from exhibiting works from all areas of the furniture sector.
Beyond security sources speaking to Al-Ahram, no further information has been provided by security sources regarding the cancellation. It is unclear whether any intelligence was received indicating that the fair would be the target of an attack.
This month, there have been three terror attacks in Cairo. The deadliest attack struck a church connected to St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo and killed 27 people, mostly women and children. ISIS claimed responsibility for the Cathedral attack, while a local movement that goes by the name ‘Hasm’ claimed responsibility for the December attacks on security personnel.
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