Two pharaonic statues that were stolen on Saturday were found today, a security source said. They were stolen when a group of armed men attacked a temporary storehouse for the German mission operating in the temple of Amenhotep III and the Wadi al-Hitan area. The source added that combined police and army forces in Luxor arrested three members of the 15-strong gang that carried out the theft. The joint force managed to determine the identities of the suspects, raided a house where they were hiding in the Rawageh district, west of Luxor, and arrested three people. The same force also raided the house of a third suspect in the Sheikh Khalifa area, and the two artifacts were found there. The third suspect has yet to be arrested, however. The three detained so far have been referred to military prosecution. Several such robberies have occurred lately. Around 60 thieves broke into the Selim Hassan artifact storehouse near the Pyramids, while the Tal al-Farain antiquities storehouse in Kafr al-Sheikh was attacked by more than 40 armed men. Other crimes of a similar nature have also taken place, due to the absence of police since the Revolution. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
