Thomas H. Goldberger, Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo - photo courtesy of US Embassy Cairo Twitter account Ministry of Antiquities takes advanced steps to protect heritage
By: Mirna Ashraf
Wed, Sep. 26, 2018
CAIRO - 26 September 2018: The US Embassy in Cairo concludes the week-long "Heritage Protection" workshop that was held in partnership with the Ministry of Antiquities on how to protect cultural property and investigate illegal export of antiquities.
The US Embassy in Cairo said in a press release Wednesday morning that the workshop was conducted by trainers from the US Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of State's Cultural Effects Task Force; the workshop was also attended by officials from all over Egypt.
At the closing ceremony of the workshop, U.S. Embassy in Cairo Charge d'Affaires Thomas Goldberger told the attendees that the workshop is a practical demonstration of the close support and cooperation between the United States and Egypt. "Cooperation between our law enforcement agencies is particularly impressive and is growing every day," Goldberger said.
"I was delighted to visit Egypt to attend the workshop not only because of all the work we have done in the United States to preserve Egypt's cultural heritage, but also because of the enthusiasm of my colleagues here in Egypt," said Mary Cook, a trainer from the Department of National Security and Cultural Property Program.
In Nov. 2016, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries on the protection of cultural property, as well as training and professional cooperation.
The agreement imposes restrictions on the importation of certain categories of antiquities from Egypt to the USA , and provides a legal basis for the United States to close its markets for the illegal artifacts from Egypt.
It is worth mentioning that on Sept. 19 the Egyptian Embassy in London received a stolen artifact from the open museum at Karnak Temple which was illegally smuggled and displayed at an auction hall in London.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement that this comes within the framework of the permanent cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry Antiquities that exert huge efforts to restore the smuggled Egyptian antiquities.
-- Sent from my Linux system.
No comments:
Post a Comment