We have put this web page explaining the situation of NWA meteorites for a good reason : http://www.saharamet.com/meteorite/data/Sahara/Nwa.html
1) the situation of terrorism is dramatic in Algeria and there is an open link with contraband. See these recent posts of Mike on the mailing with the title :"Re: [meteorite-list] news from Algeria" and "[meteorite-list] Algeria" : > Yep, things are getting a little scary out in Islamland. > Why anyone would go to Algeria I dont know. The Army of God terrorist group > is still hacking people up there on a daily basis. > Michel, are you suggesting that massacres do not happen in Algeria? Tens of > thousands are dead over the decade. > I can pull up hundreds of articles on the bombings, entire villages murdered > etc. > Mike 2) meteorites bought in Morocco are coming from Algeria, Libya and up to Egypt for their majority. It's the case of NWA 482 and 2046 of Mike for example. And for his recent trip, when we see that he has been driven right on the Algeria border to find the original seller... for us this seller seems coming from Algeria (nomads with their flocks don't live in a minefield... in the other case, after one week, there will be no more flock in live). 3) the potential for meteorite prospecting in Morocco is very limited and the border with Algeria is officially closed since 1994. For protecting Morocco from army groups coming from Algeria there's a double wall of earth created by bulldozer and mined : one million mines !!!. It's a military place where it's forbidden to go. It's what Mike has described in his recent trip with the title : [meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news > .....That is > when the Moroccans told me that this was a military-only, prohibited zone, > and that we were not allowed there! I of course got a little concerned > (especially when we saw several mine-fields. We were driving cross-country > at night with no lights, only by full moonlight, (not a safe thing in an old > war zone where mine-fields are still around). > The next morning we arrived at the tent of the nomad who found the > pallasite. He led us there, over the berm and military fighting emplacements > to the site, Algeria was only about 2 kilometers away.......Mike" So read our web page, you will see that it contains lots of things that dealers have still noticed. But it's sure that for us meteorites are also a world patrimony which could be protected under the UNESCO laws : http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2001/pdf/5150.pdf Just for comparison : 20 kg of Martian meteorites have been discovered in hot desert by systematic prospectors who share full documentation, photos, GPS localization... and only 3 kg have been discovered by NWA approach. Coordinates are important to find paired specimen, a world patrimony is lost. Richard and Roland Pelisson --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Let us explain the French problem with B. Fectay/C. > Bidaut > > Bruno Fectay and Carine Bidaut have sued us in March > 2004 for libel. It is > "only" a civil action between B. Fectay/C. Bidaut > and us to claim for > damages. > Now we are also claiming for damages against them. > > It will take several months to the justice before to > return a verdict. > As you can imagine, nothing is illegally done in > front of the court : > private emails are not admissible. > And "nobody" can be summoned to appear in a civil > action. > > All the remarks and all the publicity which have > been given to this affair > are the consequences of this civil action. > > Regarding our web page on NWA meteorites, the French > court decided in our > favor: > "Il ne peut être contesté que le débat sur les lieux > de découvertes des > météorites est légitime et présente un intérêt > scientifique. La même > légitimité doit être reconnue pour les discussions > sur le transport et les > opérations commerciales relatives à ces météorites" > > We hope that everybody can return to his passion. > And we wish that those > interested by the subject will wait for the official > decision. > And if Bruno Fectay has something to express why > does he needs to write > through N. Classen and not with his own email ? > > > For those who want to know more about us and our > work on Saharan > strewnfields, you can browse our web pages: > http://www.SaharaMet.com > > And our 2003 expedition on Mauritanian craters: > http://www.saharamet.com/expedition/2003/craters.html > > Best regards, > Richard and Roland Pelisson > > ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
