Ex-head of Cairo museum in Van Gogh theft warned on security
AFP
CAIRO- A former director of the Cairo museum from which a Vincent Van Gogh masterpiece was stolen wrote an article in 2007 saying the museum's surveillance cameras were defunct, the official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.
The "Poppy Flowers" painting by the Dutch impressionist, estimated at 55 million dollars (43 million euros), was stolen last month from the Mahmoud Khalil museum in a brazen day time heist that left Egyptian authorities red-faced.
"The former head of the museum published an article in the magazine of the broadcast and television authority in its November 3, 2007 edition that said the cameras were not working and the museum was vulnerable to theft," the agency reported.
Five people, including the head of the culture ministry's fine arts sector, have been arrested and charged with negligence.
The culture ministry has said it plans to increase museum security.
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