Greek minister on Marbles mission

The Greek culture minister was in London Monday to ask officials from the British Museum to return the Elgin Marbles that once adorned the Parthenon, BBC News reported.

The ancient friezes, depicting formal religious ceremonies, were given to the British Museum in 1816; Greece has been trying to get them back for years. It is so intent, in fact, that construction has begun on a new museum to house them on the Acropolis hill in time for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Greek minister Evangelos Venizelos was expected to propose that the British Museum let the sculptures go on permanent loan to the Athens facility in exchange for the loan of other Greek antiquities. But a spokesman for the museum told BBC News Online that the Elgin Marbles are considered part of its core collection and the notion that they could leave is “total nonsense.�