Cyprus has handed back to Egypt 14 ancient artefacts stolen and smuggled abroad in the late 1980s after authorities on the Mediterranean island seized them, AFP reported Tuesday (May 1st).
The artefacts include an alabaster base "decorated with the name of King Ramses II in addition to 13 ushabti figurines and amulets of different shapes”, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said.
Interpol had informed Egypt of the objects' seizure in 2017, the ministry said.
The ministry said that it ultimately succeeded "through diplomatic and legal efforts" to prove its ownership of these artefacts.
The items arrived in Cyprus in 1986 and were recovered in Nicosia, it added.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest, Ahram Online reported.
These include efforts to combat terrorism and the latest developments on the crises in the region, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
