Stolen Picasso Recovered
Police on Monday recovered what they believe is a stolen Picasso painting and arrested four Turks on charges of smuggling the piece of art from neighboring Iraq, a news report said.
Undercover officers, acting on a tip, arrested the Turks in the southeastern town of Sirnak, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency said.
It was not clear if the painting, bearing geometric designs, was listed as stolen.
Last year, police recovered five paintings believed to have been by Picasso, including "Ugly Woman," a portrait of the painter's mistress, Dora Maar, and the 1908 painting "La Fermiere," or "The Farmer's Wife."
Police said the paintings were believed to have been stolen from a Kuwaiti palace during the Gulf War in 1991.
It was the second series of arrests connected to the theft of major works of art this month.
In Sweden three weeks ago, police arrested four men in the theft of three Renoir and Rembrandt paintings from Stockholm's waterfront National Museum -- but those precious art works remain missing, authorities said.
The paintings were taken from the museum on Dec. 22. A man walked into the state-run museum five minutes before closing time and pointed a submachine gun at an unarmed guard while two people already inside snatched the paintings off the walls.
The four suspects — all Swedish citizens but not otherwise identified — were arrested in the Stockholm area.
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