At the most recent meeting of UNESCO, the discussions between the British Museum & the Greek government were acknowledged.

From:
UNESCO

UN Recomendation on Cultural Property
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR PROMOTING THE RETURN OF CULTURAL PROPERTY TO ITS COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OR ITS RESTITUTION IN CASE OF ILLICIT APPROPRIATION
Fourteenth Session
5-6 June, 2007, Paris

Recommendation No. 1
The Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of illicit Appropriation,

Expressing its continuing concern for a resolution to the issue of the Parthenon Marbles,
Acknowledging past UNESCO recommendations on this matter,
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Huge numbers of artefacts have been lost & ancient sites damaged since the US led occupation of Iraq began. If you look more closely though, much of the damage has been caused by the allied forces themselves, rather than terrorist attacks or looting. How can we expect people to look after their own country & respect it if we do not show the same care & attention ourselves?

From:
The Guardian

In Iraq’s four-year looting frenzy, the allies have become the vandals
British and American collusion in the pillaging of Iraq’s heritage is a scandal that will outlive any passing conflict
Simon Jenkins
Friday June 8, 2007
The Guardian

Fly into the American air base of Tallil outside Nasiriya in central Iraq and the flight path is over the great ziggurat of Ur, reputedly the earliest city on earth. Seen from the base in the desert haze or the sand-filled gloom of dusk, the structure is indistinguishable from the mounds of fuel dumps, stores and hangars. Ur is safe within the base compound. But its walls are pockmarked with wartime shrapnel and a blockhouse is being built over an adjacent archaeological site. When the head of Iraq’s supposedly sovereign board of antiquities and heritage, Abbas al-Hussaini, tried to inspect the site recently, the Americans refused him access to his own most important monument.
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Greece has always taken great care to protect the public image of the Parthenon & to prevent unauthorised commercialisation of it. After complaints by the Greek government, US telecoms company Verizon has apologised for its recent use of the Parthenon in an advertising campaign.

From:
International Herald Tribune

Greece says Verizon telecoms apologizes over unlicensed Parthenon advert
The Associated Press
Published: June 7, 2007

ATHENS, Greece: U.S.-based telecoms giant Verizon has agreed to withdraw adverts that featured an unlicensed photo of the ancient Parthenon in Athens, Greek authorities said Thursday.

The company apologized for using a picture of the 2,500-year-old temple in a newspaper advertising campaign, a Culture Ministry statement said. Verizon said it was not aware it had broken Greek law and intended no disrespect to the monument, according to the statement.
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More details of the method by which the sculptures will be transferred by three cranes from the Acropolis to the New Acropolis Museum in a delicate & carefully co-ordinated operation.

From:
The Times

May 31, 2007
Greek treasures get a lift to their new home

Hundreds of marble sculptures that have survived heat, pollution and looters on the Acropolis in Athens will be swung over the city, using special cranes, to a new museum complex. The sculptures, some weighing 2.5 tonnes, will be transferred in a relay operation to a purpose-built glass home at the foot of the hill in September.

One crane, perched precariously near the ancient retaining wall of the Acropolis, will lift the exhibits out of the old museum. A second will stand in the precinct near the Herod Atticus Theatre to receive the relics, then swing its arm round to a third across Dionysius the Areopagite Street, a pedestrianised walkway on which the new museum stands.
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