A French-Egyptian symposium on heritage and the protection of cultural
property was yesterday held at the French Institute in Cairo.
Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Mostafa Amin and French
Ambassador to Egypt André Parant opened the event which tackled ways to curb the looting of Egyptian archaeological sites
and the trafficking of cultural property, both of which saw a sharp rise since the Arab Spring uprising in January 2011 and ithe subsequent security breakdown.
Participating in the sympodium were officials from the Ministry of Antiquities,
archaeologists from the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology, and Egyptian and French security personnel specialised in combatting the smuggling ofantiquities.
The meeting clearly aimed at strengthening cooperation between archaeologists, conservationists and police in the field of heritage preservation,protection and recovery of cultural property, and to exchange real-time information to identify and list stolen item.
Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring uprising, Egypt has witnessed a
notable increase in antiquity trafficking and illicit digging activities nationwide. Political turmoil and small numbers of underpaid guards have left the country’s cultural heritage vulnerable to looting.
Watani International
20 November 2014