US returns looted Roman fragments to Lebanon

The United States announced Thursday the return of Roman-era sarcophagus fragments to Lebanon after an FBI investigation recovered antiquities described as looted from the southern city of Tyre.

The decorative lead fragments were returned to the Lebanese consulate in New York on Wednesday ahead of their repatriation, the US embassy in Lebanon said.

Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said the fragments were unearthed in the Tyre area during illegal excavations. He said they had artistic, decorative and technical features typical of Tyre workshops that produced lead sarcophagi in antiquity.

The FBI said the antiquities were stolen from illicit excavations in or around Tyre and exported outside Lebanon.

The US embassy said the recovery reflected US-Lebanon cooperation against the illicit trafficking of cultural property.

Tyre is rich in archaeological heritage. Salame said the region had recently suffered severe destruction from Israeli strikes during the latest war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. UNESCO added Tyre to its World Heritage in Danger list in July.