The four sphinx statues from Karnak Temple in Luxor have been transferred to Tahrir Square, whilst the obelisk of King Ramses was installed in the garden of the square. The renovations that the square was undergoing over the past several months have also been completed.
The Council of Ministers announced that a private security company would take over guarding the square to protect the statues. They originally did not announce the name of the company, but it turned out to be Falcon Safety Group affiliated to the intelligence. Falcon is the largest private security company in Egypt, and the number of employees exceeds 22,000, and includes former police and army brigades.
The company guards universities, a number of public figures, international offices, and foreign embassies. It has an exclusive license to use shotgun cartridges that are used to kill demonstrators and disperse gatherings, and the right to deploy rapid intervention forces as a private security service.
Renovations in Tahrir Square raised questions about their purpose. Was it only architectural renovations or a means to legitimise the presence of the intelligence proxy corporation in the square from which all protests and demonstrations were launched in Egypt after 2011? The answer to this is unknown.
