Looted African treasure seized

2005-01-29 21:21

Paris - Customs inspectors at Paris' biggest airport have intercepted an illegal shipment of more than 800 man-made artefacts - some dating to a million years ago - that originated in the Sahara and Sahel areas of western Africa, officials said on Saturday.

Inspectors at Charles de Gaulle airport seized a shipping container carrying carved stones, dinosaur fossils, terra cotta pottery, figurines and other relics, which amounted to "a true archaeological treasure," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Some of the 845 pieces may have been unearthed from several sites during sand storms in the Sahara and Sahel areas of Niger and Burkina Faso, the ministry said. Some of the stones had been carved as long as 200 000 to a million years ago.

The shipment, labeled "artisanal products" and weighing more than 500kg, had arrived from Niamey, Niger en route to Belgium, the ministry said.

Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope, speaking as the artefacts were shown to reporters on Saturday, called the pieces "the heritage of humanity". He said France wants to return them to their countries of origin.

Authorities seized the items on January 6 but did not announce the incident immediately so that experts could analyse the artefacts, customs spokesperson Corinne Cleostrate said. An investigation was under way, but no arrests have been made.

The ministry said the pottery and figurines - believed to be used in funeral rites - were on the International Council for Museums' list of looted artefacts that are forbidden for export or sale.

Cleostrate said the value of the haul was millions of euros or dollars, but would be difficult to precisely determine.

- SAPA