LUCKNOW, July 3: Archaeologists carrying out excavations at the site of the a destroyed Babri mosque in Ayodhya were on Thursday given seven more weeks to complete their work, officials said.

The high court in Lucknow gave the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) five more weeks to complete excavations at the site and a further two weeks before it has to hand in its report by Aug 22.

On Tuesday ASI had requested a break of 3 months in the work because of monsoon rains and a further 3 months to finish the dig. The row over the ownership of the site is in the hands of the courts which had asked ASI to determine whether a Hindu shrine previously existed there.—AFP