Event at Qasr Al Khuld to Mark Retrieval of Marble Head of Empress Faustina the Younger.

Tripoli, 30 March 2021(Lana) An event was organized at the Al Khuld Palce in Tripoli to celebrate the arrival of the marble head of Faustina the Younger, 70 years after it was smuggled out of the country. The event was attended by the Ministers of Interior Khalid Mazen and Foreign Affairs Najla Al Mangoush.

The Minister of State for Liaison and Political Affairs Walid Al Lafi commended the state of Austria for returning the Libyan priceless artefact, and conveyed recommendations of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Al Dbeiba that the Antiquities authorities should push for the return from abroad of all Libyan artefacts to Libya.

Al Dbeiba called on all countries which keep Libyan artefacts in their museums to return them to Libya.

Al Lafi noted that the return by Austria of the Faustina was a proof that the European country trusted Libya’s ability to safeguard the artefact, following ascertaining by Austrian officials of the safety of Libyan museums and archaeological warehouses from transgression and theft despite the exceptional circumstances which the country faces.

On his part, the Head of the Antiquities Department Mohamed Farj thanked the security apparatus for their effort to protects archaeological cities and retrieve artefacts in collaboration with Libyan diplomatic missions.

The event was attended by some members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Libya, the Representative of UNESCO and the media.

The statue was stolen in unclear conditions during the World War I from the eastern Libyan city of Soussa in 1942 by a soldier, and appeared in the sixties of the last century at a museum in the Austrian state of Citria .

=Lana=