The British Museum’s statements regarding the Elgin Marbles could well have an impact on many other items in their collection that people want returned.

From:
Straits Times

British Museum won’t return any of its stolen cultural relics
The Dunhuang Cave relics will stay at the British Museum following its refusal to return Greece’s Elgin Marbles, say officials
By Alfred Lee

LONDON – The British Museum is unlikely to return China’s Dunhuang Cave treasures and other stolen cultural relics following its statement yesterday that it has decided to not give back Greece’s famous Elgin Marbles.

The Marbles were looted from the Parthenon in Athens in the early 1800s by Lord Elgin, the British Ambassador to Greece.
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William G Stewart, a member of the Parthenon 2004 campaign is to tour the USA giving a series of lectures about the Parthenon Sculptures & why they should be returned to Greece.

From:
BBC News

Last Updated: Tuesday, 25 February, 2003, 16:44 GMT
Quiz host to lecture on Elgin Marbles

Fifteen-to-One presenter William G Stewart is to embark on a seven US city lecture tour on the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

The quiz show host is a vociferous campaigner for the UK to return the artefacts to their country of origin and is an expert on their history.
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British Museum director Neil MacGregor has made the somewhat reckless move of suggesting that the Parthenon Sculptures will never return to Greece.

This point of view that he is taking, would suggest that there is no point in Greece wasting their time entering into any sort of negotiations & leaves no space for any consideration that there might ever be an organised return of artefacts, allowing the museum to move on from the issue.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Elgin marbles ‘will never be returned to Greece‘
By Chris Hastings, Media Correspondent
(Filed: 23/02/2003)

The Elgin marbles will never be returned to Greece, even on loan, the director of the British Museum has told The Telegraph.

In a ruling which will infuriate the Greek authorities, Neil MacGregor – who took over as director of the museum last August – said that the marbles could “do most good” in their current home, where they are seen in a broader historical context.
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The declaration on “Universal Museums” has been met with trepidation by many, who think that it exhibits an out of date approach to cultural property & international diplomacy.

From:
The Art Newspaper

“A George Bush approach to international relations”
ICOM and lobby groups react with hostility to appeal by leading museum directors to view collections acquired in earlier times as important to “universal museums”
By Martin Bailey

LONDON. In our January issue we published the declaration on “universal museums”, signed by the directors of more than 30 of the world’s greatest museums. These included the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Berlin State Museums and the Rijksmuseum (The Art Newspaper, no. 132, January 2003, pp.1,6).

The statement argued that “objects acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values, reflective of that earlier era.” Despite demands for repatriation, the directors stressed the importance of the “universal museum”, where world culture is on display.
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