US President Joe Biden's administration will use a virtual Nato defense gathering this week as a starting point toward rebuilding trust with European allies shaken by Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy.
US officials who asked to remain anonymous said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin would emphasise Washington's commitment to the trans-Atlantic treaty after Mr Trump's open hostility.
Mr Biden's Republican predecessor publicly ridiculed Nato allies such as Germany, who failed to reach defense spending targets.
Mr Trump said in 2018 that "Nato was not doing what they were supposed to be doing".
Officials said Mr Biden will not abandon those targets, but will focus on bolstering Nato's collective defense.
Underscoring Mr Biden's views on Nato, the White House took the rare step of releasing a video last month of the US president's first conversation with Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in which he used the word "sacred" to describe the America's commitment to the treaty.
The Nato defence ministers meeting comes as efforts to secure a peace deal in Afghanistan teeter amid rising Taliban attacks.
Nato chief Stoltenberg said on Monday that Taliban militants must do more to meet the terms of a 2020 peace agreement with the US if foreign troops are to withdraw by a May deadline.
"The Taliban must reduce violence, negotiate in good faith and live up to their commitment to stop co-operating with international terrorist groups," he said.
"While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right."
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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