Taking advantage of Egypt's political upheaval, thieves have gone on a treasure hunt with a spree of illegal digging, preying on the country's ancient pharaonic heritage.

Illegal digs near ancient temples and in isolated desert sites have swelled a staggering 100-fold over the past 16 months since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak's 29-year regime and security fell apart in many areas as police simply stopped doing their jobs. The pillaging comes on top of a wave of break-ins last year at archaeological storehouses — and even at Cairo's famed Egyptian Museum, the country's biggest repository of pharaonic artifacts.

Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq's campaign boasted on Saturday that the former air force chief had shot down two Israeli planes during war, as it dismissed accusations of corruption.

Shafiq, former president Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister before an uprising toppled the dictator last year, claimed to have downed the planes during the War of Attrition which Egypt declared between 1969 and 1970.

A leading Islamist candidate in Egypt's presidential election has branded Israel a "racist state" and said a shared 1979 peace treaty was "a national security threat" that should be revised.

Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh also denounced al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden's assassination by U.S. special forces as an act of "state terrorism," in a late Saturday Egyptian television interview.

Egypt's administrative court on Saturday ruled that this month's presidential election should be held on time, overturning a lower court's ruling, judicial sources said.

A provincial administrative court had ordered the suspension of the election on Wednesday, saying the electoral commission chief had overstepped his mandate by calling for the May 23 and 24 vote.

Vicarious travellers and students of history can take a virtual stroll through the vast necropolis build by the ancient Egyptians in the Giza Plateau, thanks to a 3D Internet project launched this week.

The interactive recreation, to be found at www.3ds.com/giza3D, was put together by French design company Dassault Systems with material from the archives of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

Egyptians abroad began voting on Friday for their first president since veteran leader Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year, less than two weeks before polling stations open in the country.

They have until May 17 to cast their ballots in embassies and consulates. Voting in Egypt will take place on May 23 and 24, with a rerun in June if none of the 13 candidates wins a majority in the first round.

An Egyptian administrative court ruled the illegality of the upcoming presidential elections as the dates have been set by an independent electoral commission instead of the ruling authorities.

However, conflicting reports emerged on the legality of the administrative court itself to issue such a verdict when it lacks the authority to suspend the ballots.

Egypt's military prosecution on Saturday ordered 179 people be detained over deadly clashes between troops and anti-military protesters in Cairo, a military source told Agence France Presse.

Following the arrest of 320 people after Friday's clashes outside the defense ministry in Cairo, the prosecution "has decided to hold 179 people, including 13 women, for 15 days pending investigation," the source said.

At least two people were killed on Friday in fierce clashes between anti-military protesters and soldiers in Cairo and nearly 300 others wounded, hospital officials and medics said.

Egypt's military rulers imposed an overnight curfew around the defense ministry in central Cairo where the skirmishes occurred and the military prosecution announced that 170 people were arrested.

Saudi King Abdullah ordered on Friday the return of the kingdom's ambassador to Egypt and the reopening of the mission after it was shut last week in the wake of angry protests, state news agency SPA said.

The king "instructed the kingdom's ambassador to Cairo to resume his post on Sunday, and ordered the reopening of the embassy and the consulates in Alexandria and Suez," SPA reported, quoting an unnamed official.