Eleven Egyptian Officials to Be Tried in Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (AP).- Eleven culture officials from Egypt’s government have been formally charged in last month’s theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting from a Cairo museum that had no functioning security alarms. People look at the priceless golden mask of the famed King Tutankhamun, watched by security monitoring cameras, unseen, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Security for Egypt’s cultural treasures is under scrutiny after the Aug. 21, 2010 theft of a van Gogh painting from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil Museum [...]

Egyptian Minister, Farouk Hosni, Questioned in Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (AP).-Egyptian prosecutors questioned the culture minister for three hours over the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting that has put him on the defensive over the state of museum security around the country. Farouk Hosni said he sought in Sunday night’s session to dispel accusations he failed to respond adequately to calls for increased security at Egyptian museums, including the one from where the van Gogh was stolen. No alarms and only seven of 43 security cameras were [...]

Tut-Tut: Security Problems Seen in Most of Egypt’s Museums

CAIRO (AP).- The Egyptian Museum houses some of the world’s prized antiquities, including the gold mask of King Tut that draws millions of tourists a year. But it also has an outdated video surveillance system that doesn’t work around the clock and guards who snooze, read the Quran or are seemingly too bored to pay attention. Security for Egypt’s treasures is under scrutiny after the Aug. 21 theft of a van Gogh painting from another museum in Cairo revealed some [...]

Egyptian Tycoon, Naguib Sawiris, Offers Reward for Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (REUTERS).- Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered a 1-million Egyptian pound ($175,300) reward for information leading to the recovery of a stolen Van Gogh painting, television reported on Wednesday. Sawiris, chairman of the leading Arab mobile operator Orascom Telecom, is the first businessman to publicly get involved in the search for the panting, worth an estimated $55 million. The painting, known as “Poppy Flower” according to a statement in Arabic, was stolen on Saturday morning from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil [...]

Egypt Culture Chief, Farouk Hosni, Sleepless Over Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (REUTERS).- Egypt’s culture minister blamed “incompetent” security staff for the theft of a $55 million Van Gogh painting from a Cairo museum and said worries for the safety of the country’s art treasures are depriving him of sleep. “I feel like I am working alone and that I alone spend time thinking of how to manage cultural affairs,” the minister Farouk Hosni told daily paper al-Masry al-Youm on Tuesday. “I can’t work with these incompetent employees,” he said. “I’m [...]

Egypt Deputy Minister, Mohsen Shalaan, Detained Over Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO.- Egypt’s state news agency reports the country’s top prosecutor has ordered a four-day detention of the deputy culture minister over the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting. Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. None of the museum’s alarms and only seven of 43 surveillance cameras were working at the time of the robbery. On Monday, General Prosecutor Abdel-Meguid [...]

Faulty Alarms Blamed for Van Gogh Theft at Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Egypt

CAIRO (AP).- None of the alarms and only seven out of 43 surveillance cameras were working at a Cairo museum where a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen, Egypt’s top prosecutor said Sunday. Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital. Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud told Egypt’s state news agency Sunday that the thieves used a box cutter to remove [...]

Minister Farouk Hosni Says Search Still On for Van Gogh Stolen from Cairo Museum

CAIRO (AP).- Egypt’s culture minister on Saturday retracted his claim that police had recovered a van Gogh painting stolen from a Cairo museum, saying it was based on inaccurate information and that the search for the canvas continues. The minister, Farouk Hosni, said earlier Saturday that police had confiscated the painting from an Italian couple at Cairo airport hours after it was lifted from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital. But Hosni later backtracked, telling a national television [...]