Luxor4u

Was any help forthcoming from the British Embassy?

I have heard that Mr Gaddis is no longer Consul here.Perhaps this is connected to the false imprisonment of these expats or the other recent incident of an expat being held in Luxor jail.Anyway it would appear that we are now reliant on assistance from Cairo....which does not bode well as they do not even acknowledge emails,or deign to reply.

A-Four wrote:

timetraveller wrote: publicly accused, were apparently also kept in a prison cell for a day and night and denied food.

..............and did you honestly think that they would be given food, while they were held in prison, I think they should think themselves lucky they got a bed,..........and I am NOT joking here.

What makes you think they DID get a bed? And I'm sure they don't think themselves at all lucky, especially as their names were published before it was established that there was any case to answer, which as it transpires there was not. And further to that indignity, thanks to Glyph their names have been made public on here as well.

I'm glad you're not joking A-Four. Not really a laughing matter is it?

No it certainly is not a laughing matter, and l do have detailed infomation as to how terrible the local police prison is in Luxor, but perhaps because of the intervention of the Briish Consulate in Luxor, this may have prevented them being sent to a real Egyptian prison, perhaps up near Cairo for anything up to a month before the case came before a judge.

I now learn above from Meretseger that maybe we no longer have a consulate in Luxor, if this is so, ex-pats there should give this very careful consideration, as some are very aware of a couple of recent incidences that even with the aid of the consulate, has beggered belief.

timetraveller wrote: And further to that indignity, thanks to Glyph their names have been made public on here as well.

Dont blame Glyph, timetraveller it was in all the newspapers (with names), she was only posting news from a news site and passing the information on.

Yeah, their names were in all the Egyptian newspapers, including the one I posted a link to...Are you going to blame me for the fact you can't read the article for yourself too?

Glyphdoctor wrote:Yeah, their names were in all the Egyptian newspapers, including the one I posted a link to...Are you going to blame me for the fact you can't read the article for yourself too?

Actually, their names were so misspelt in the article posted as to be virtually unrecognisable (Nuie rather than Newey) which would have at least afforded them some anonymity. And just because the authorities were irresponsible enough to release details before the facts were established, and the press similarly irresponsible in publishing I can see no justification for it being repeated on here. Some people who hadn't seen the newspaper articles (myself included) will have read it on this thread, which can only serve to heighten the embarrassment of a couple who, it would seem, are innocent of the offences they have been publicly accused of.

You didn't have to spread it just because you read it.

And why would I blame you for not being able to read Arabic? What a ridiculous question. Although I do remember reading in the forum rules that all posts are to be made in English.

DJKeefy wrote:

timetraveller wrote: And further to that indignity, thanks to Glyph their names have been made public on here as well.

Dont blame Glyph, timetraveller it was in all the newspapers (with names), she was only posting news from a news site and passing the information on.

Yes Keefy, but don't I recall you writing recently that this is not a 'naming and shaming' site?

timetraveller wrote:

DJKeefy wrote:

timetraveller wrote: And further to that indignity, thanks to Glyph their names have been made public on here as well.

Dont blame Glyph, timetraveller it was in all the newspapers (with names), she was only posting news from a news site and passing the information on.

Yes Keefy, but don't I recall you writing recently that this is not a 'naming and shaming' site?

This was not a naming and shaming situation. It was the presenting of a news article - only one of many available - and indeed their own friends had been posting with their names included on other public websites way before it was in the newspapers. I'd been following the story from while the couple were still at the airport so reading their names on a newspaper report her was not exactly news!

I don't know the couple and had never even heard of them before I read their names in the newspaper article, and posted a link to the article, and simply said what was written in the article here in English for those who can't read Arabic. Just because some people here may know the couple or that they were caught in rather embarrassing circumstances does not make it a name and shame act. It's just news and journalism 101 is every story needs to cover WHO-what-when-where-why.

Another little bit of excitement in our dreary ex-pat lives eh ? Smuggling old stuff, relocating is the modern idiom to use.
Well to bring a little bit more color to your lives I am getting out the white linen suit, panama and dusting off the Rolls.
If, Mr Gaddis is no-more then, I will be meeting all and any British ex-pats in the Royal Bar Old Winter Palace at tiffin time every third wednesday to celebrate my forthcoming application to said: Her Royal Majesties Honorary Consul to Luxor and it's environs.
Somehow, I think Mr Gaddis has a job for life....dont you ?........

Who2 wrote: If, Mr Gaddis is no-more then, I will be meeting all and any British ex-pats in the Royal Bar Old Winter Palace at tiffin time every third wednesday to celebrate my forthcoming application to said: Her Royal Majesties Honorary Consul to Luxor and it's environs.
.......

Strange though it may be for me to say this...Luxor could do a lot worse!

@ timetraveller - I think you need to email all the UK (forget that...WORLD) newspapers at your disgust of them mentioning names too

Here is what the Independent newspaper says: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 47085.html

Ive edited the article just for you

British couple released as priceless artifacts they were 'smuggling' out of Egypt turn out to be cheap market fakes


A British couple arrested in Egypt on
suspicion of trying to smuggle priceless artifacts out of the country will
return home tonight after it emerged that the objects had in fact been
purchased at a local tourist bazaar.


Mr *BEEP*, 65, and his wife Mrs *BEEP*, 62, were stopped at Luxor International Airport by officials trying to clamp down on the burgeoning illegal trade in looted antiquities.

According to international news agency reports the couple, who are believed to have lived in Egypt for the past nine years, were carrying 19 objects in their luggage.

These were said to include Pharonic statues, a Greco-Roman bronze coin, ancient manuscripts and a 16th century Bible which are protected under Egypt’s antiquity and cultural laws.

It was reported that Mrs *Beep* smashed three of the items as they were being examined by experts from the Ministry of Antiquities and that the police were called.

The seized pieces are now being prepared to be transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo where they are due to be examined by a specialist committee.

However it has emerged that the couple were released after it became clear that the objects were almost certainly cheap fakes purchased in the local market where convincing reproductions – often made in China – are openly on sale to tourists.

Luxor, which stands on the site of the ancient city of Thebes is home to some of the country’s richest archaeology including the Valley of the Kings and the Karnak Temple.

The Britons told officials that the coin, originally believed to date back to Roman times, was in fact from Romania.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London said the couple were on their way home.

“I can confirm the arrest of two British nationals at Luxor International Airport. They have been released and are travelling back to the UK,” he said.

The arrests were announced by antiquities minister Dr *Beep*, and Mr *Beep, head of the central administration of ports.

The local English language newspaper the Luxor Times said the Britons deserved an apology once it had been established the items were fake.

“Otherwise don’t expect any tourists to buy a souvenir from the local market for five pounds as it may fool someone who should have studied for many years to be a professional and think it is genuine,” it added.

Although Egypt’s antiquities have been looted by outsiders for centuries, security has deteriorated since the overthrow of President *Beep* last year when several pieces went missing from the Egyptian Museum including a gilded wood statue of the pharaoh *Beep*.

The Arab Spring has led to a dramatic upsurge in the trade across North Africa as smugglers sought to take advantage of the turmoil.

Meanwhile national authorities are increasingly demanding that key artifacts be returned to their place of origin. Dr *Beep* recently alerted Interpol and the customs authorities to a red list of stolen artifacts missing from Egypt. Details have been circulated to international auction houses to prevent them being sold on. Earlier this month the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation warned dealers and collectors to be on the look out for missing relics.

*Beep* said: “This heritage is part of humanity's history and Egypt’s identity. It must not be allowed to vanish into unscrupulous hands, or run the risk of being damaged or even destroyed.”

May I remind ANY applicant for the 'job' as Her Britannic Majesty's Consulate in Luxor, that if you should find that any of your subjects are 'banged up' on what ever stupid charges are around at this present time, you will be requested to prepare, cook and bring in food throughout the period that the British subject is held at Luxor Police jail. Further more it may be helpful, if at the same time you bring in the food, you also carry in on your back a bed of some sort, as there are none there.

To ex-pats I am sure all this sounds very crazy, and ofcourse none of you will ever find yourselves in such a situation, or will you. It also appears to me that the Embassy in Cairo do not give a hoot.

My advice here is you should have your British MP's telephone number and the Duty Officers number at FCO. Only once did I have to deal with the FCO, because the Embassy 'could not help'. It so happened that a member of my family know Douglas Hurd, the then FCO minister,........Oh boy did the '**** hit the fan'.

Quote:you will be requested to prepare, cook and bring in food..

So, yet another positive action in favor of my application, what sort of expense account do you think is set aside for this outlay ?....
HMP Guidelines: State Food: £1.87p per day per head {that wont even cover the vino}