Dhaka - The Ministry of Culture in Bangladesh said France
had agreed to send back all the ancient relics which were shipped to
Paris from Dhaka nearly a month ago, officials said Thursday.
The government in Bangladesh also announced a decision to scrap an
accord under which centuries-old Bangladeshi relics were to be
displayed during an exhibition sponsored by the Paris Guimet museum.
The sudden cancellation of the accord came in the wake of the
suspected theft in Dhaka of two priceless relics of the Hindu God
Vishnu when these were to be put on an Air France cargo plane last
week.
Intelligence sources in Dhaka said police and the elite Rapid
Action Battalion commandos had traced the 7th Century Vishnu statues.
But the claim could not be confirmed by independent sources.
Private TV channels said eight more suspects were arrested
overnight, raising the total number of people to 24 detained by
police since the two antique treasures went missing at the airport.
A senior cabinet minister in Bangladesh has resigned over the
missing Vishnu relics reportedly stolen while in transshipment to
France.
Ayub Quadri resigned from his office as Cultural Affairs Adviser
to the caretaker government a position which made him head of the
Ministry of Culture.
Quadri quit his job accepting moral responsibility for the alleged
theft of the two rare relics scheduled to be flown along with over
143 other specimens as the second consignment of artifacts to Paris
on December 22.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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