Paris (France) (AFP) — France on Monday handed over a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia, which was looted from the Gobi Desert and seized by French customs, as the Asian country seeks to recover lost relics.

The “extremely rare” fossil of a Tarbosaurus bataar, considered to be the Asian cousin of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, was seized by French officials in 2015.

Public Accounts Minister Amelie de Montchalin handed it and other items including dinosaur eggs over to Undram Chinbat, Mongolia’s culture and sports minister, at a ceremony in Paris.

“Today, a piece of the Gobi Desert is about to return to its homeland,” de Montchalin said.

“This is the result of a very long and meticulous investigation. It is the restitution of a scientific and cultural treasure.”

The di

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