France has handed over to Egypt five disputed, frescoed¹ fragments that were held by the Louvre museum in Paris.

法国向埃及转交了五块由巴黎罗浮宫所有的、有争议的壁画碎片。

The five fragments are from an ancient Egyptian wall painting

French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented one of the slabs平板，厚片, or steles石碑，石柱, to his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, who was on a visit to Paris.

The Egyptians had demanded the return of the Pharaonic古埃及法老王的 fragments and had broken off破掉，中断 ties with the Louvre卢浮宫.

They are believed to be from a 3,200-year-old tomb of the cleric, Tetaki, in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor.

Conferences suspended

The steles, which are each only 15cm (5.9in) wide and 30cm (11.8in) high, were part of the Louvre's reserve collection.

French officials have maintained that the Louvre acquired the steles in good faith真诚地，善意地.

But Egypt's antiquities³ department had said the Louvre bought the fragments despite knowing they were stolen in the 1980s.

It broke off ties with the Louvre in October, saying they would only be restored once the fragments were returned.

Several conferences were suspended, as well as archaeological考古学的 work being carried out by the Louvre south of the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Mr Sarkozy said on Monday that doubts about the fragments only emerged in November.

"France is particularly committed to fighting the illegal trafficking of works of art," he said in a statement.

Four of the fragments were purchased from the Maspero gallery in France in 2000, while the fifth was acquired at auction⁴ in Paris in 2003.

Ancient Egyptian artworks and relics遗迹 are displayed in many of the world's top museums, but in recent years the Egyptian government has stepped up pressure to repatriate遣返 some of them.