Thief of ancient Spanish maps "caught in Argentina" (Roundup)

Oct 17, 2007, 12:31 GMT

Madrid - A man suspected of stealing valuable ancient maps and other documents from Spain's National Library has given himself up to police in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, library director Milagros del Corral said Wednesday in Madrid.

The daily El Pais, however, said the suspect had only expressed willingness to return some of the stolen documents through his lawyer, and that he remained at large.

The 60-year-old Spaniard of Uruguayan origin, whose name was given as Cesar Gomez Rivero, lives in Argentina. He still had in his possession several documents which were believed to have been taken from the library, according to del Corral.

A Spanish police delegation and an expert from the National Library were to travel to Argentina. Del Corral said she was not authorized to give more details.

The internet edition of the daily El Pais, however, quoted police sources as denying the information given by del Corral.

The suspect had only sent his lawyer to see the judge in charge of the case, proposing to return several documents on the condition of not being detained, according to the daily.

The judge rejected the deal, and police continued searching for the suspected thief, police sources were quoted as saying.

Gomez is suspected of tearing 12 pages containing 19 documents from books in the National Library, which he visited between 2004 and 2007. The man, who said he was a historian, smuggled in a small knife, El Pais reported earlier.

The theft of the documents, which was made public in August, prompted the resignation of Rosa Regas, del Corral's predecessor as the director of one of Spain's most prestigious cultural institutions.

The stolen documents included two world maps by 2nd-century Greek geographer Ptolemy.

One of the maps, which was taken from a 16th-century edition of Ptolemy's Geographia, has reportedly been found in the possession of a New York collector. Its value was estimated at about 100,000 euros (140,000 dollars).

Another alleged Ptolemy map has been located at an Australian antiquities shop. Investigators were trying to determine whether the maps in New York and Sydney were the ones stolen in Spain.