BELGIUM MAKES AMENDS

BRUSSELS: The Democratic Republic of Congo has been given an inventory of art objects held in Belgium’s Africa Museum so that artefacts looted during the Belgian colonial era can be returned.

The list of 84,000 works includes sculptures, masks and musical instruments, and accounts for 70 per cent of the museum’s collection.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced a €2.4m ($3.8m) budget to set up a joint research panel to assess restitution claims.

“There are a number of works of art that have come here on the basis of theft or violence. We should not be afraid to look that history straight in the eye,” he said.

Leopold II of Belgium ruled the “Congo Free State” from 1878 to 1908, during which time at least 10 million Congolese people, more than half of the population, either died or were killed.