25 Juni, 2009 - Published 10:14 GMT

Sengketa soal Museum Acropolis

This is going to be a very uncomfortable week for Britain. Greece's Culture Minister, Antonis Samaras, has stoked up the pressure by rejecting what he claimed was an offer by the British Museum to loan some of the sculptures that were hacked from the Parthenon at the turn of the 19th Century.

The British Museum said it would consider a three or four month long loan, but only if Greece acknowledged that London was the rightful owner. Mr Samaras said Greece could do no such thing as it would legitimise Lord Elgin's theft and vandalism.

For years, the unsuccessful efforts to secure the return of the long sculpted frieze have been conducted in polite terms by diplomats and academics. Many Greeks have become tired of what one new movement has described as the Athens government's wishy-washy tactics. Over the past four months 100,000 people have signed up for what promises to be a more dynamic campaign. Some of them will demonstrate outside the new museum the night before the inauguration.

The group's leader, Alexis Mantheakis, said that if London could hand back India it should be capable of emptying a room at the British Museum.

Malcolm Brabant, BBC News, Athens

stoked up
secara harfiah, menambahkan bahan bakar ke api; di sini, mengobarkan dan memperbesar

to loan
meminjamkan, memberikan selama jangka waktu tertentu, bukan selama-lamanya

at the turn of
pada pergantian, pada awal (abad)

was the rightful owner
memiliki hak syah untuk memiliki

legitimise
mengukuhkan keabsahan

sculpted frieze
pahatan horizontal yang menjadi bagian suatu bangunan klasik, yang sering berupa ornamen atau patung pahat

wishy-washy
kekurangan gagasan, prinsip yang jelas atau kualitas yang mudah ditemukan

signed up for
memuituskan untuk bergabung/ikut serta dalam

inauguration
di sini, upacara pembukaan resmi, peresmian

hand back
here, to abolish colonial control over