I travelled recently with Omar Sharif to the Dominican Republic by personal invitation of the president, Leonel Fernandez. I was invited to receive an honorary doctorate degree from the Catholic University in Santo Domingo, as well as to give a public lecture. 

In this article, however, I would like to talk about Omar Sharif and how he was received and honoured by the president and the people of the Dominican Republic. Maria Gabriella Bonetti, the Dominican Republic ambassador to Egypt, and Kathleen Martinez, the minister counsellor of cultural affairs, were enthusiastic about inviting and honouring Sharif at the third International Film Festival in Santo Domingo. We convinced him to go; he always likes to say that he is an old man of 78 and cannot travel, but actually he is only 77 and is healthier than a young man.

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