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US, Cambodia sigh deal to stop pillage of Angkor heritage
Washington, Nov 20: The United States and Cambodia have signed a deal aimed at halting the trade in priceless artifacts pillaged from the country`s ancient Khmer temples, which often wind up on US and western antique markets.
Washington, Nov 20: The United States and Cambodia have signed a deal aimed at halting the trade in priceless artifacts pillaged from the country's ancient Khmer
temples, which often wind up on US and western antique markets.
The move follows an "alarming rate" of pillage in Cambodia, which places the country's cultural heritage in jeopardy," the state department said in a media release.
"By entering into this agreement, the United States demonstrates its respect for the cultural heritage of Cambodia and decries the global pillage that results in an illicit trade in cultural objects and the irretrievable loss of information about human history," the statement said.
The deal, signed on September 19, in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, but announced for the first time in Washington yesterday, places import restrictions on certain categories of Khmer archaeological material ranging from the sixth to 16th centuries. It will extend protection to stone, metal and ceramic objects.
The US announcement follows the second intergovernmental conference for the safeguarding and development of Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, the country's most treasured landmark, in Paris last weekend.
Angkor Wat -- literally "city of temples" is in northwestern Cambodia, some 314 kilometers from the capital Phnom Penh. Angkor Wat was the capital of the ancient Khmer empire founded in the ninth century by King Jayavarman II.
Bureau Report
"By entering into this agreement, the United States demonstrates its respect for the cultural heritage of Cambodia and decries the global pillage that results in an illicit trade in cultural objects and the irretrievable loss of information about human history," the statement said.
The deal, signed on September 19, in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, but announced for the first time in Washington yesterday, places import restrictions on certain categories of Khmer archaeological material ranging from the sixth to 16th centuries. It will extend protection to stone, metal and ceramic objects.
The US announcement follows the second intergovernmental conference for the safeguarding and development of Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, the country's most treasured landmark, in Paris last weekend.
Angkor Wat -- literally "city of temples" is in northwestern Cambodia, some 314 kilometers from the capital Phnom Penh. Angkor Wat was the capital of the ancient Khmer empire founded in the ninth century by King Jayavarman II.
Bureau Report