The Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) project began in the late 1990s with a dual aim: to do research while building scientific ties in the troubled region. The plan is to install and upgrade a decommissioned German synchrotron at a facility in Alaan, Jordan, that scientists from partner nations will use for materials science and biological imaging. But the project needs an extra US$35 million to complete construction (on top of the $55 million to $60 million already committed), and it was counting on Egypt. Last year, Israel promised $5 million, on the condition that other partner nations put in similar amounts. Egypt was among those expected to match the Israeli pledge at a SESAME meeting on 11 March. Hany Helal, the nation's science minister under President Hosni Mubarak, has been a staunch supporter of SESAME, but as Nature went to press, it was unclear how long Helal would remain in his post, or how a new government might view the project. "It's obviously a bit worrying," says Chris Llewellyn Smith, a British physicist and president of SESAME'S council.
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