File Photo: The historic mosque of Al-Ashraf (Photo: Reuters)
In a statement, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities has denied that it will remove 55 historical pulpits from Islamic mosques in Egypt, describing the reported news as unfounded.
Secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said the ministry has not and will not remove any historical pulpits from Islamic mosques in Egypt. It only transferred the lanterns of Al-Refaie Mosque after seven of them were stolen but recovered three weeks later in January 2017.
It also removed one pulpit of Abu Bakr Mozher Mosque after parts of the metal decorations of its door were stolen a week ago.
Waziri pointed out that in January 2017 the Permanent Committee for Islamic and Coptic Antiquities decided to document all artefacts inside Islamic mosques in an attempt to protect and preserve them.
The lanterns of Al-Refaie Mosque were taken to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), scheduled to be partly open by the end of 2018.
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