Cairo - Taheya Carioca, the Egyptian beauty who became the Arab world's most famous belly dancer, died yesterday in a Cairo hospital at the age of 79.
Ms Carioca, whose stardom lasted decades after her debut in the 1930s, was born Abla Mohammed Karim but took her stage name from the Brazilian sambas she went on to perform. Ms Carioca danced in most Arab countries and starred in several Egyptian films with some of the Arab world's top actors before retiring from public life 13 years ago.