CAIRO - Chief Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud Monday ordered the First Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture be remanded for four days pending further investigations into the theft of a precious painting from a Cairo Museum. "Mohssen Shaalan and four other security employees are detained for four days for lagging that resulted in wasting public funds," a statement from Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud's office read. Authorities at Cairo International Airport, meanwhile, declared an emergency and stepped up inspection measures to retrieve a stolen painting by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum, as the International Police (Interpol) was notified about the theft. "Around 100 Italian travellers heading home from Egypt were searched manually and thoroughly because of a police report that some of them were suspected of stealing the van Gogh's Poppy Flowers," a Cairo Airport official said. He added that the painting was not found with any of them. "They were all allowed to travel to Bologna, Italy," he said. "Emergency status will continue in all airports, crossings and seaports in a bid to prevent the smuggling of the precious painting," the official said. The Italian Embassy, meanwhile, denied reports that two Italian men and a woman were detained over the theft of the painting. "This news is baseless," the Embassy said in a statement, a copy of which was sent to the Egyptian Mail. The painting of the yellow and red flowers in a vase, which was cut out of its frame, was discovered stolen on Saturday from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. The Poppy Flowers was stolen before, in 1977, but was found the following year. With an estimated value of more than 50 million dollars, the theft took place in broad daylight from the museum, which was declared to have major security shortcomings. "The search is ongoing. We still haven't found the painting," Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said Monday. "Police are on alert at the borders and the airports," he said, adding that the Interior Ministry had informed Interpol of Saturday's theft. Hosni pointed out that President Hosni Mubarak was closely following the procedures to recover the painting. "The President is following our attempts to regain the painting minute by minute," he said. "The thief will not be able to sell the painting," he said on Sunday, adding that the 63x57-centimetre (25x22.5-inch) canvas was too large to be easily concealed. Hours after the theft, Hosni announced that the painting had been recovered but he later backtracked, blaming a subordinate for having passed on "inaccurate" information. Prosecutor Mahmoud acknowledged on Sunday that security measures at the museum were "inadequate," branding them "a facade". "There are 43 security cameras but only seven are working. Each painting is protected by an alarm bell but again, none are working," Egypt's Prosecutor General told reporters.
