AN Egyptian billionaire plans to build a $500million seaside resort near the World War II battlefield of El Alamein, where almost 6000 Australians lost their lives. The proposed development, funded by businessman Ibrahim Kamel, includes 4000 hotel rooms, a golf course, a shopping mall and an entertainment complex. The site - Ghazala Bay, on the Mediterranean Sea - is on the fringe of the El Alamein battlefield, where the Allies defeated General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in 1942, reversing a German drive on the Suez Canal. Between July and November 1942, the Australian 9th Division suffered almost 6000 casualties at El Alamein. Despite the historical significance of the location, Australian RSL national president Bill Crews said that as long as the development did not affect the cemetery and the various memorials at the site, there was no reason why the resort should not be built. "Australia cannot lock up all of its significant wartime battlefields," Major General Crews said. "Ultimately, it's a matter for the sovereign nation to decide if developments at such sites are appropriate. "But we would expect that the cemetery, the museum and the memorials at El Alamein would not be affected. "I am sure the Egyptian Government would be sensitive to that." Egypt's Mediterranean coast provides about 500km of beaches, mostly undeveloped. The Red Sea is Egypt's main tourist destination, luring more than half of its 11 million visitors each year. Egypt received 9.7 million tourists in the first 10 months of last year, an increase of 13 per cent on the same period the previous year.

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