Several diplomats laud German efforts to protect cultural property

Several ambassadors of foreign countries in Berlin voiced their appreciation of the German government for its proposal to amend the legislative framework of the German cultural property protection act, which will be debated in the German Bundestag.

The diplomats, in a joint statement on Tuesday, welcomed the draft law that was presented by the government to the German Bundestag in this respect.

The statement issued by ambassadors of 12 countries; Egypt, China, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Mali, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala and Ecuador.

Last week, the Egyptian embassy in Berlin hosted a meeting to discuss a draft law on the protection of the German cultural property.

The meeting grouped 17 Arab, Asian, African and Latin American countries that witnessed illicit excavations and illegal trade of their cultural artifacts.

Giving a speech at the meeting, Ambassador Badr Abdel Aatti thanked the German government for its proposal to amend the legislative framework of the German cultural property protection act.

He also discussed the current challenges to the world cultural heritage in light of the deliberate destruction and theft of antiquities by terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq to finance their terrorist activities. 

The meeting also took up applying the 1970 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.