DUBAI // An Emirati mountaineer who has twice conquered Everest has had to postpone a daredevil stunt on the world’s tallest tower – but only by a day.
Saeed Al Memari had asked the Burj Khalifa's owner, Emaar, for permission to climb the side of the building and base jump from the top at midnight during the annual New Year's Eve firework display.
But the company told him it would be too dangerous. Instead, he has been given the go-ahead to complete the stunt on January 1.
“The fireworks are already fixed so it would be dangerous,” said Mr Al Memari, 34, from Fujairah. “I was trying to get a window of two or three minutes to jump, but they said that would be difficult. Any small mistake can change a lot of things. So I’ll be doing it on January 1. I will do it in the evening to avoid the sun.”
Mr Al Memari will scale the glass facade with the aid of ropes, and take breaks at 15-minute intervals.
His parachute will have images of the President, Sheikh Khalifa, and the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, and a Happy New Year message in English and Arabic.
The mountaineer is one of a number of adventurers who took part in the Travellers' Festival today in Dubai.
csimpson@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
