Egypt To Return Smuggled Statue To Iraq

January 11, 2009 6:02 p.m. EST

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - Egypt's antiquities chief said on Sunday that the nation will return a stolen artifact to Iraq. Zahi Hawas, chief of Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that he will return a bronze statue of a Mesopotamian woman, which he unveiled in the Egyptian Museum today.

"We sent many letters to the governments of America and Britain to protect the ancient artifacts," Hawas said according to the Daily News Egypt.

Hawas added the statue was confiscated from an Egyptian worker in Jordan after he was caught at Nuweiba trying to smuggle the artifact into Egypt.

The smuggler is charged for stealing the precious item and now faces up to five years in jail.

Hawass indicated that his prison period could increase up to 25 years once the new proposed law is rectified by the policymakers in Cairo in February.

The 10 centimeter tall bronze statue is one among 5,000 artifacts that have been recovered by the members of Supreme Council of Antiquities, following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"There are still many ancient artifacts from Iraq that are still missing," Hawas added. As of July last year, around 24,000 stolen artifacts that were looted have been returned to Iraq.

Iraqi ambassador to Egypt Abdel Hady Fadel said that Iraq is cooperating with UNESCO and the Interpol to stop the smuggling of ancient items out of the country, the paper said.