Message #115412

[Bianca]

Fit to Travel?



The Egyptian government wants to borrow Nefertiti for three months so it can be displayed at the opening of the $550 million Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza pyramids.

In April, German Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said there were ``serious conservational and restorative concerns'' about transporting the bust of Nefertiti. He stressed that his country's procurement of the work was lawful and said Egypt had no grounds to demand its return.

That position hasn't changed after months of lobbying by the Egyptians. ``It's up to the owner of a work of art to decide whether it is fit to travel or not,'' says Mechtild Kronenberg, director of the German Museums Association.

Hawass, who has recovered about 4,000 artifacts from countries including Spain, France and Mexico since 2002, is also asking the British Museum to lend the Rosetta Stone to Egypt.