News Cairo International Book Fair to open next week Readers across the Arab world are eagerly anticipating the opening of the 46th Cairo International Book Fair, scheduled to be held this year from January 28th-February 12th. The slogan for this year's fair is "Culture and Innovation" and the first day will be limited to special guests, with doors opening to the public the very next day, said Mahmoud Junaid, a member of the fair's organising committee and supervisor at the General Book Authority. Saudi Arabia will be this year's guest of honour as the Saudi wing has been expanded to 4,000 square metres to accommodate for all scheduled activities, he told Al-Shorfa. Fair organisers this year chose to honour the religious scholar Sheikh Mohammed Abdu (1849-1905), as he was "a man of enlightenment who called for innovation in the modern age", Junaid said. Choosing Abdu also came "in response to extremist thinking promoted by terrorist and extremist groups that damage the Muslim faith and distort its image", he said. "Focusing on Abdu's intellectual work will give a chance for the promotion of contemporary and correct Islamic ideas, far from extremism and terrorism," he added. Source: El Shorfa Publishing Date : 27/1/2015