CAIRO: An Egyptian delegation is planning to travel to Australia to retrieve 122 Egyptian artifacts. The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is expecting approval to travel from the Council of Ministers, according to Ahmed Mustafa, head of the Retrieved Artifacts department at the SCA. The artifacts were handed over to the Egyptian Embassy in Australia last Friday. Mustafa said he sent the Council of Ministries a letter asking for approval 25 days ago, but the council has not yet responded. Mustafa said the artifacts are not yet in Egypt because of the Council of Ministries' delay in approving the travel. Mustafa said the artifacts are endangered by remaining in the embassy. Authorities seized the 122 artifacts before they could be sold in an auction in Melbourne. An additional 49 artifacts in Spain and Italy are waiting to be retrieved, said Mustafa, blaming slow procedures for the fact that they have not yet been retrieved.