[CPProt.net] Egypt: Attempt to smuggle pharaoh's statue foiled

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Attempt to smuggle pharaoh's statue foiled

CAIRO, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Egyptian police have foiled an attempt to smuggle
an ancient statue of Pharaoh Ramses II out of Egypt for sale to a foreign
museum or private collector.
 
Security sources said Thursday that thieves found the granite statue in the
region of Giza near Cairo in the area of the big pyramids and did not report
it to the authorities.

Police were tipped off about the discovery, however, and policemen posing as
art merchants convinced the thieves to sell them the statue for 4 million
Egyptian pounds ($695,000).

The thieves, who planned to break the statue into several pieces to
facilitate smuggling it out of the country, showed the disguised policemen
to the place where they had been hiding it.

Ramses II, one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs, ruled ancient Egypt for 67
years between 1213 and 1279 B.C., and his statues are found in several parts
of the country.