New York's Met Museum agrees to return 14 stolen cultural artifacts to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): New York's Metropolitan Museum (the Met) has agreed to return 14 looted cultural treasures in its possession to Cambodia after several years of negotiations, the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement on Saturday.

The repatriation includes several masterpieces such as the breathtaking sculpture of a 10th-century female goddess (Uma) from the ancient royal capital of Koh Ker, a 10th-century bronze head of Avalokiteshvara which has a matching torso now at the National Museum of Cambodia, and a 10th - 11th century Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara sculpture, the statement said.