On 11 May 2006, the writer and journalist Ahmed Youssef gave a conference in Arabic about his book, De Lesseps, cet inconnu. The author explained how he had based his research on previously unpublished documents and on newly uncovered testimonials, revealing hitherto unknown facts about the life of French diplomats at the time of the digging of the Suez Canal and on a particular chapter in Franco-Egyptian relations. Topics raised during his lecture included the question of hard labor, the issue of Egypt’s national debt, and the personal relations with Saïd Pasha.