NEW YORK, Jan 8: The Pakistan government on Friday formally asked the United States to repatriate hundreds of priceless Pakistani artefacts detained by the US Customs in October at Newark (New Jersey) port.

But the repatriation process could be a long one, with many legal ramifications, despite cooperation from the US authorities, it was learnt here by Dawn.

Pakistan's Consul General in New York, Haroon Shaukat, sent the letter to the US State Department after a Pakistani archaeological expert, who had flown in to New York last week, determined that most items in the container seized by the United States authorities were of Pakistani origin, and had been excavated in Taxila, the hub of the 2000-year-old Ghandaran civilization.

Dr Fazaldad Kakar, Director General of Museums and Archaeology, confirmed the finding after carefully examining each artefact under the supervision of US authorities last week.

Mr Shaukat told Dawn that most items in the container were of Pakistan origin, except for a few which were fake.

He commended the US Customs authorities for cooperating with Pakistani officials who had come to examine the antiques.

Mr Shaukat said that Mr Kakar did a careful and arduous scientific analysis to determine the origins of the items in the container before concluding that they were of Pakistani origin from the Ghandaran civilization.

Legal Implications

However, it is learnt that there are many legal implications for the US authorities to in fact impound and send the items back to Pakistan, since the artefacts in the container have not been recorded in Pakistan by the museum authorities as being part of the national cultural heritage.

The artefacts were shipped to the United States by a Dubai-based businessman to a consignee in New York. It is not clear how the Dubai businessman got hold of the priceless art objects.

Mr Shaukat said the artefacts were covered under the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by Unescoin 1972. Both Pakistan and the United States are signatories to the convention.