Egypt cuts Louvre ties
Thursday October 08 2009
Egypt's antiquities czar has taken his campaign to recover lost treasures to a new level by cutting ties with the Louvre.
The Paris museum's refusal to return painted wall fragments of a 3,200-year-old tomb found near Luxor could jeopardise its future excavations in Egypt.
The move by Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, appears to have borne fruit.
Both the Louvre and France's Culture Ministry said they were ready to return the pieces.
He has taken a similar step before, against the St Louis Art Museum over a burial mask. But such an action against an institution of the Louvre's stature is unprecedented.
Egypt suspended the Louvre's excavation in the necropolis of Saqqara, near Cairo.
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