CHINA'S TOMB ROBBERS

BEIJING : China has arrested 26 suspects and retrieved almost 650 cultural relics stolen from an ancient burial site in north western Qinghai province, the ministry of Public Security said on Sunday.

Chinese official Xinhua new agency said experts believe many of the items recovered are of ''tremendous historical value'' as they show cultural interactions between-

The East and the West during the early days of the Tang Dynasty, which lasted from 619-907 A.D.

The suspects are said to have illegally excavated items from the Dulan tombs, which lie along the ancient Silk Road, and subsequently arranged their sale.

A police official speaking on China's state-run CCTV on Sunday said the criminals, two of them were on the police's ''most wanted'' lost, were for as much as 80 million yuan [ $11.6 million] for their loot.

Of the 646 items recovered, 16 were classed as first-class cultural relics, according to a ministry statement.

Partial excavations of the Dulan tombs have revealed a valuable collection of ancient silk textiles and garments from Central Asia and Byzantinum, according to the New York based World Monuments Fund. [Reuters]