LEAD: France to return Bangladeshi relics as Dhaka scraps expo deed

Dec 27, 2007, 13:32 GMT

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.