Security forces arrested a former lawmaker for leading a gang involved in excavating for and dealing in antiquities - Interior MinistryCAIRO – 1 July 2021: The Egyptian Prosecution affirmed on Wednesday that the 227 artifacts seized with an excavation gang believed to be led by former MP Alaa Hassanin were confirmed to be antiquities. A committee from the Supreme Council of Antiquities said all the seized antiquities date back to the Egyptian civilizations and belong to different ages, including the Prehistoric, Pharaonic, Greek, Roman and Islamic ages, according to the prosecution’s statement. The prosecution ordered the detention of Hassanin, former Al-Mihwar owner Hassan Rateb and 17 others pending investigation in the illegal excavation case. Hassanin denied leading the excavation gang with the aim of smuggling the antiquities to outside the country or carrying out digging operations to excavate and sell antiquities. The prosecution said it seized four deep digging sites, noting that the antiquities committee confirmed that the digging work was made to excavate antiquities.

Source: Egypt Today July 01, 2021 10:29 UTC