Message #114275

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                                     Spain: Only thing to discuss with U.S. firm is return of treasure






November 18, 2008 
Madrid,
(EFE via COMTEX)

Spain's Culture Ministry said Tuesday that it had received "no offer of any kind" from Odyssey Marine Exploration to share $500 million in coins, adding that the only thing Madrid wants to discuss with the U.S. treasure-hunting firm is "the complete return of all the cultural wealth it plundered."

The ministry was responding to a proposal from Odyssey to come to an understanding on the fate of
the gold and silver the treasure hunters recovered in 2007, prompting Spain to file suit in U.S. federal court demanding the return of the haul.

One day after turning over to the court more than 1,000 pages rebutting Spanish government claims about the origin of the treasure, Odyssey President Greg Stemm said Tuesday that he was holding out hope that Madrid would accept an "amicable" resolution to the contentious legal wrangle.

In addition to Spain, the Peruvian government has demanded property rights to the gold and silver
coins found by Odyssey.

Moreover, the descendents of the early-19th-century businessmen who allegedly owned the coins and other valuable objects found on the sunken wreck have expressed their interest in demanding property rights.

The Tampa court must now decide if it will accept the motion by the Spanish government, which is demanding that all objects recovered from the wreck should be under the sovereign immunity of the Kingdom of Spain.

Odyssey said in its submission to the court that since the recovery site held no human remains or
items identifying the ship, Madrid has no way of proving that the treasure came from Nuestra Señora
de Las Mercedes, a frigate sunk by British warships in October 1804 after a battle in which more than 250 Spaniards died.

In a statement signed by Stemm, Odyssey said that the pieces recovered were spread over a wide
area where there was no sign of the ship.

"Nothing recovered or seen in the information collected from the 'Black Swan' confirms its identity," Stemm said.

"The conclusions reached by Spain as to the identity of the place are based on circumstantial evidence and ignore the evidence gathered suggesting that the shipwreck of the Las Mercedes could be located somewhere else," Odyssey said.

Among the evidence cited by Stemm is the fact that the frigate was carrying twice the number of coins recovered by Odyssey.

The Tampa-based firm had until midnight Monday to answer the brief filed by Spain on Sept. 22.

The Spanish government said that the evidence is "abundant and definitive" and adds that the ship
from which Odyssey took the treasure is the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes.

Madrid also says that the remains of the Las Mercedes belong to a marine cemetery protected by
the principle of sovereign immunity.

U.S. lawyer James Goold, who is representing the Spanish government in the legal dispute, said last month that "it is very well documented and is a historical fact" that the Mercedes sank with more
than 250 Spaniards - including sailors and civilians - on board.

Spain's Culture Ministry also accuses Odyssey of carrying out the "underwater excavation in secret
after having received specific instructions that it was prohibited."


EFE

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