Zahi Hawass (L), Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Antiquities, on behalf of the Egyptian government, hands over an Iraqi Mesopotamian bronze statue to the Iraqi attache in Egypt Abdel Hadi Dadhil Ahmed, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, capital of Egypt, Jan. 11, 2009. The authentic antiquity, which depicts a woman in the act of worship, was taken from an Egyptian smuggler at the Egyptian port of Nuweiba in Sinai in 2005. (Xinhua/Zhang Ning) Photo Gallery>>>

    CAIRO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian antiquity department on Sunday returned an ancient bronze statue to Iraq that was stolen and smuggled out of Iraq in 2005.

    During a ceremony on Sunday, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawass handed over the bronze statue depicting a standing woman to Iraqi charge d'affaires in Cairo Abdel Hadi Ahmed.

    Hawass said the story of the statue dates back to 2005, when an Egyptian tried to smuggle this item into Egypt but was detained at the port of Nuweiba in the Sinai Peninsula.

    According to the SCA, the artifact was verified by an archaeological committee as an authentic Mesopotamian antiquity.

    Since the Iraqi war in 2003, numerous antiquities have been stolen out of Iraq, a country with rich cultural heritages.

    Hawass said Egypt will not do business with museums that have stolen artifacts from Iraq, adding his country has always been tracking stolen antiquities.

[1] [2] [3] [4]