Egypt asks Interpol to trace Tutankhamun relic auctioned in UK

Cairo calls on international police agency to find head sold to unknown buyer for 4.7m

Egypt is planning to sue over the sale at Christie's auction house in London of a 3,000-year-old Tutankhamun sculpture that may have been looted from a Luxor temple - and has called on Interpol to intervene.

The 28.5cm brown quartzite head was part of a statue of the ancient god Amun with the facial features of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt between 1333BC and 1323BC. Similar statues were carved for the Temple of Karnak in the city of Thebes, now Luxor.