Cairo  - Nine paintings stolen ten days ago from an Egyptian museum, were found near the scene of the crime, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture said on Thursday.

"Security authorities informed me that they found the paintings near the palace after the police received an anonymous phone call telling them where the paintings were," Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said.

The paintings were stolen from Mohammed Ali Pasha's palace, a historical building that houses major art works.

The identity of the thieves remains unknown.

Cairo  - Nine paintings were stolen from Mohammed Ali Pasha's palace, a museum that lies on the Nile banks in northern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday.

"Officials at the palace say the paintings were last seen Monday afternoon just before the palace was closed," Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said when he went to inspect the crime scene on Tuesday along with head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Zahi Hawas.