Egypt deports UAE ambassador for smuggling antiques

Ancient wooden statues are found in a tomb of a goldsmith in Luxor, Egypt on 9 September 2017 [Ibrahim Ramadan/Anadolu Agency]

Cairo has deported United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador Hamad Saeed Al-Shamsi over his involvement in smuggling Egyptian antiques, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Friday.

According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Egyptian Ambassador to Qatar Amr El-Sherbini posted on his official Facebook page on Friday that the decision to deport the Emirati ambassador came following the revelation that he was involved in smuggling Egyptian antiques.

El-Sherbini added that investigations into businessperson Hassan Ratib and his partner, former member of Egyptian Parliament, Alaa Hassanein: “Revealed his involvement in smuggling Egyptian antiquities with Emirati diplomatic bags.”

The Egyptian ambassador to Qatar shared: “A correct decision confirms the vigilance of the Egyptian security and oversight services, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for dealing with the matter professionally, without arousing concern for relations with the UAE.”

READ: Egypt, Chinese firms to operate, manage largest hospital in new administrative capital

He added: “This procedure must be complemented by a similar Emirati procedure that includes quickly punishing the ambassador who committed crimes against his country and the country that hosted him.”

Meanwhile, he urged the UAE to return the smuggled antiquities and respond to the investigation inquiries.

The antiquities include a variety of statues, some of which were inside tombs as part of burial offerings.

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.