Sunday, September 18, 2011

Australia will return 122 Egyptian archeological pieces

Canberra Times (Samantha Meys)

A hoard of stolen ancient Egyptian artefacts were yesterday returned to Egypt after a whirlwind few months of travel.

Office for the Arts representative Sally Basser handed the 122 artefacts to ambassador Omar Metwally in Canberra on behalf of Arts Minister Simon Crean.

Australian authorities originally seized the items in Melbourne at an auction house in November.

The ancient artefacts had been smuggled from Egypt to Australia.

Secretary to the ambassador, Ahmed Abu Moussa, said they were notified of the objects' location in Australia thanks to the internet.

Both the Egyptian and Australian governments have worked together to ensure the items were safely returned to Egypt, where they would be tested and verified by Egyptian authorities.


Youm7 (Amany Saber)

The Egyptian ambassador in Australia, Omar Metwali, received 122 archeological pieces from Australian authorities. The pieces were retrieved from an auction house in Melbourne in November 2010.

The Egyptian embassy in Australia issued a statement announcing the Australian authorities caught these pieces after the Egyptian embassy presented an official request to retrieve them.

The archeological pieces date back to the Pharaonic, Greek and Roman eras.

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