Italy will sign a deal over disputed art works with New York's Metropolitan Museum on Tuesday, ending decades of controversy and paving the way for the return to Italy of antiquities Rome says were plundered, Reuters reported. Culture Ministry officials and Met director Philippe de Montebello held talks in Rome on Monday to finalise the deal, a ministry spokesman said. "The agreement is there. We are just putting the final touches on it," he said. The Met said earlier this month it had agreed to return several works, including a 2,500-year-old Greek vase and a set of 15 Hellenistic silver pieces to Italy in exchange for long-term loans of equivalent beauty and importance. Tomb raiders have looted antiquities in Italy for centuries, and Rome says some of the works have ended up on display in museums abroad, particularly in the United States. Authorities have undertaken an aggressive campaign in recent months to bring back antiquities stolen after 1939, when Italy passed a law stating that ancient artefacts from digs belong to the state. Art works excavated after that date can leave the country only on loan. --More 21 40 Local Time 18 40 GMT
