London, Feb 28 (IANS) A British couple were arrested at an Egyptian airport on suspicion of trying to smuggle antiquities out of the country before experts realised they were imitations bought at a local market.
Michael Newey, 65, and his wife Angela, 62, were stopped at the Luxor international airport with 19 mementoes, including Pharonic statues, a Greco-Roman bronze coin and a 16th century Bible, the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
During an examination of the items by Egypt’s ministry of antiquities, Angela Newey reportedly smashed three of them and police had to be called.
But the couple — who have lived in Egypt for nine years — were later released after it became apparent that the goods were fakes, according to the Independent.
The items were understood to have been reproductions bought at a local market.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London said the couple were on their way back to Britain.
The local English language newspaper, the Luxor Times, said the Britons deserved an apology after it emerged the artefacts were fake.
