Egypt asks Interpol to help reclaim King Tut statue auctioned in LondonJuly 10, 2019 - 16:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Egypt says it has asked Interpol to help track down a 3,000-year-old sculpture of the famed boy pharaoh Tutankhamun after Christie's auctioned it off last week despite Cairo's objections. The Britain-based auction house sold the brown quartzite head depicting King Tut for more than 4.7 million pounds ($5.9 million), CBS News reports. Egypt's National Committee for Antiquities Repatriation says in a statement late Monday that it hired a British law firm to file a lawsuit against Christie's, saying the auction house did not provide documents proving ownership. Christie's has denied any wrongdoing, saying it carried out "extensive due diligence" to verify the provenance of the statue and had "gone beyond what is required to assure legal title." The committee also criticized British authorities for not supporting its claim to the sculpture. Laetitia Delaloye, head of antiquities at Christie's, told the Reuters news agency last week that it is "impossible to track them (ancient artifacts) back over the millennia of their existence, so what we endeavour to do is to research their modern history and in this case it actually brought us back to the 1960s when it was in an Austrian aristocratic collection." She said she had gone over city archives in Germany "and found the trace of the head, and we were able to talk to the previous owners directly, which is very important for us. And when we carry (out) this extensive due diligence it's of course normal for a piece of this importance." Delaloye said Christie's had been in contact with the Egyptian authorities in Cairo and at the Egyptian embassy in London "given them all the information that we have over the piece, because through this research, we're confident that the legal status of the piece and the title of ownership is clear." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. |