The Egyptian diplomatic missions are exerting the maximum effort to retrieve smuggled antiquities and artifacts as part of the UNESCO's 1970 agreement which bans selling genuine artifacts, according to Assistant Foreign Minister for Cultural Relations Olfat Farah.
The Foreign Ministry coordinates in this regard with domestic and foreign authorities to prevent any smuggling attempts through different countries, she added.
The Foreign Ministry seeks to retrieve every illegally smuggled artifact abroad in accordance with the Constitution and the Egyptian laws, Farah added.
Many possessors of smuggled Egyptian artifacts around the world responded to the calls of the Foreign Ministry and handed over the artifacts to Egypt, Farah mentioned.
Egypt recovered during the previous two years about 448 Egyptian artifacts, and is scheduled in the next few days to recover 17 pieces from Australia, according to Farah.
Egypt will recover a piece from England that dates back to the era of King Tuthmosis IV and was stolen from the king's temple in Luxor.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
