Peru asks Obama to get Yale to return Machu Picchu pieces

Thousands of Peruvians demonstrated in several cities Friday calling on Yale University to return artifacts from the Inca citadel at Machu Picchu which the school has kept for nearly a century."Give back the Machu Picchu items," was among the chants from people in the protests.About 4,000 people participated in the protest in Cuzco, the former Incan capital located around 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Machu Picchu.Another gathering was planned for Lima later in the day with Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde.

Yale University reopened talks with Peru Tuesday over the ownership of archaeological artifacts obtained by US explorer Hiram Bingham in the Inca city of Machu Picchu in the early 20th century."Yale and the Peruvian government have reopened talks," said Thomas Conroy, a spokesman for the prestigious US university in New Haven, Connecticut."We are hoping that this new round of discussions will lead to a resolution that will benefit all concerned," Conroy told AFP.

Peru's main tourist attraction Machu Picchu, one of the world's most prized heritage sites, will reopen March 29 after heavy rains cut off the ancient citadel earlier this year, a senior official said Friday.Transport Minister Enrique Cornejo said the opening had been planned for April 1, but that the railway line to the remote Inca site that had been washed out by torrential rains has been partially restored."A few days earlier than we said, tourists can take a bus from Cusco to Ollataytambo and board the train to Machu Picchu," Cornejo told lawmakers.

Rail service to Peru's main tourist attraction Machu Picchu, one of the world's most prized heritage sites, reopened after months of repairs since heavy rains cut off the site early this year.Train operators said normal service had resumed for the entire rail line from the regional capital Cusco to the ancient Inca citadel.The route had been partially reopened in late April, combined with bus service for some of the way, after the railway was damaged in hundreds of places by flooding and landslides prompted by rains that hit the country in late January.

US actress Susan Sarandon joined hundreds of visitors Thursday on the train to the Inca citadel Machu Picchu, Peru's main tourist lure, which was formally reopened Thursday after two months of repairs.A 40-kilometer (25-mile) stretch of the rail system was inaugurated Monday by Transport Minister Enrique Cornejo. But from the nearest city of Cusco, travelers will have to go some 70 kilometers (45 miles) by bus.Sarandon was among numerous foreigners, including from Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, who took part in the reopening day marred only by cloudy skies.

The ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu in the mountains of Peru is one of the most famous tourist attractions in South America. But getting there can be difficult. Some tourists spend days walking to Inca Trail to arrive at the site. Others travel by bus.

Heavy flooding in southern Peru, which trapped thousands of tourists visiting the Inca city of Machu Picchu, has killed 20 and left at least five missing, Peru's Civil Defense force said Saturday.Thousands of others have been affected by heavy rains, the worst to hit the country in five years.In the Cusco region, the downpours prompted landslides that trapped 3,500 visitors in and around the picturesque mountaintop tourist site of Machu Picchu.

Peru was Tuesday conducting an airlift evacuation of more than 2,500 foreign tourists trapped in and around its famed Machu Picchu ruins by rain and mudslides that killed at least seven people.The operation, which began Monday, had rescued 125 of the foreigners by late Tuesday, emergency services said.Most of them were waiting by a helipad near the ruins themselves, though 670 were blocked on the Inca Trail, a narrow Andean pathway up to Machu Picchu that takes four days to complete and which was cut in several places by landslides.