Algeria recovers Ottoman-era rifles going up for auction in UK

Algerian authorities on Sunday said they recovered seven Ottoman-era rifles just before they were going to be up for auction in the UK.

The Algerian culture ministry said in a statement that it worked with the foreign ministry to retrieve the rifles that date back to Ottoman rule of Algeria, which lasted between 1516 and 1830.

The weapons were scheduled to be sold at "an electronic auction" in London, just before "the Algerian state intervened to retrieve them", the culture ministry said.

تمكنت #الجزائر من استرجاع 7 بنادق أثرية، بعد أن كان معروضة للبيع في مزاد إلكتروني بالعاصمة البريطانية #لندن..https://t.co/n8xer9blMo pic.twitter.com/KBDyXKGsuX

— الشروق Echorouk (@echoroukonline) June 4, 2023

The weapons are "of great archaeological and artistic importance", the ministry said, and will be included in national museum collections.

In April last year, Algiers announced the recovery of a rare Islamic manuscript that also dated back to the Ottoman era. 

The manuscript had been seized by French colonial authorities in 1842, during a raid against notable military leader Emir Abdelkader.

Some of modern-day Algeria was under Ottoman control for over 300 years, in a territory known as the Regency of Algiers.

This lasted until 1830, when the area was colonised by the French.

The Regency was established by Ottoman Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, after he and his brother captured Algiers from the Spanish. He then declared himself Sultan.