Minister of Culture Mohamed Saber Arab said that he submitted a new draft for the National Archives Law to the government last week.

"If approved, all state authorities, including the sovereign ministries of defense and interior, will deliver their documents to the National Archives,” he said.

Arab explained that the Information Law pertains to openly exchanged administrative information, while the National Archives Law pertains to historical information.

"Citizens have the right to look at documents in accordance with the rules and without harming national security,” he said. “This is the norm of a modern state.”

Arab had inspected the new National Archives building in Fustat on Thursday before inaugurating it later this year.

“It will be like the archives of England and France,” he said. “Researchers will be able to use modern technology and an electronic database.”

“Paper documents were converted to easy to handle digital copies,” he added. “And, we have a well-trained team for restoring old documents.”

“This is where the documents of the revolution and Mubarak’s trial will be kept,” he said.

Edited translation from MENA