France Returns Disputed Wall Paintings to Egypt
France on Monday handed over to Egyptian officials five fragments of an ancient wall painting at the center of a dispute between Egypt and the Louvre Museum.
President Nicolas Sarkozy showed one of the fragments — a pockmarked slab with sepia and blue tones featuring two figures in profile — to his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on Monday, after the two men had lunch in Paris.
Egypt's antiquities czar Zahi Hawass cut ties with the Louvre in October, saying the famed Paris museum had refused to return the fragments. Egyptian officials said the artifacts, from a 3,200-year-old tomb near the ancient temple city of Luxor, were stolen in the 1980s.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy showed one of the fragments — a pockmarked slab with sepia and blue tones featuring two figures in profile — to his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on Monday, after the two men had lunch in Paris.
Egypt's antiquities czar Zahi Hawass cut ties with the Louvre in October, saying the famed Paris museum had refused to return the fragments. Egyptian officials said the artifacts, from a 3,200-year-old tomb near the ancient temple city of Luxor, were stolen in the 1980s.