Hello Beda and List
First I want to apoligize for insinuating that the Oman snitch was Edwin or
You . It was a young blond haired Swiss guy that the other Russians ran into
in Oman . It was he that stired up the police on a man hunt that ended us in
jail . I'm certain you know who he is since he's part of your hunting team .
If you read the omani document or translation you'll understand more.I
personally think that your University has been dooped by bieng told there
were laws . It behoves me why they just don't make some law or make a royal
decree that is specific ?? Hey if we were in the wrong I'll be the first to
apoligize to the Sultan himself. But after almost 3 months of digging and
begging I still have not seen any law pertaining to meteorites or such. I
think if they are so worried about thier space rocks they would make an
effort to make thier laws a little more transparent. In your next travels
there why don't you stroll into any book store or sovineer shop and by one
of those books I posted on the web sight. Read it, then and only then you
can tell me about all the mining law requirements and export permits that a
tourist needs to get !! If it were just me I would not make a big tadooo
about this whole incedent . I have the financial means to not make a big
deal out of it . But several of my friends were financially devastated. I
think if your country handled misdamenor criminals in the same manor your
tourism would or should be in the toilet too !! Maybe I need to make a dont
visit the swiss .com web sight too !! :o)
Regards
John Blennert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Beda Hofmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 7:10 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Some comments regarding Oman
Dear listmembers
One of the reasons that make meteorites so fascinating is that we don't
stop to
wonder about all the information they carry to Earth. Recently, another
source
of astonishment has turned up: Comments about meteorite collection in Oman
and
all the related stories. Some time ago we already posted a statement but I
am
not sure it went through, so I post it again below.
Just some comments on recent developments in the discussion:
1) John Blennert's Website: I can understand his frustration to some
extent,
and I get the impression that the tale of events given by him is
realistic, so
this adds to clarification. However, to state that travelling in Oman is
dangerous is ridiculous. It is also dangerous to travel and live in
Switzerland
or any country if you do not obey the law. Laws concerning prospecting for
minerals and rocks are not handed out at airports in any country (at least
I
have never seen such activity), but it appears logical that foreigners
planning
to collect rocks on a large scale would contact local authorities
beforehand to
check out. Any person reading John B.'s account in detail will stumble
over
inconsistencies, such as "just collecting a few rocks for fun" versus: 9
persons invest several weeks, rent several 4WD's, return to Oman several
times
within a few months. That does not appear as the typical habit of people
just
wanting to collect a few rocks for fun during a holiday trip..... I find
this
website is just an insult to a whole country for which I have very fond
feelings and memories. Besides, I fully agree with what Martin Altmann
recently posted.
2) A meteorite museum in Oman
I agree that setting up a whole meteorite museum probably would be both
difficult and the future would be uncertain. However, there is a nice
Natural
History Museum in Muscat where a section about meteorites might be
installed
without too much trouble. The future of such a display of even of a museum
will, however, very strongly depend on how meteorite collection in Oman
will be
managed in future. Our group is certainly supporting the idea of a display
in
Oman.
3) A pallasite may still be missing from Oman, but we found a nice 8 kg
IIIAB
octaedrite: Shisr 043.
With my best regards
Beda Hofmann
***********************
EARLIER STATEMENT of May 20, 2005
***********************
Statement of the "Swiss group" regarding the recent developments in Oman
Dear listmembers
The recent developments in Oman has led to the circulation of lots of
rumors,
also referring to our activities. Here we try to contribute to a
clarification
regarding our involvement.
The Institute of Geology, University of Bern, Switzerland, has a
long-standing
(>35 years) scientific collaboration with Oman. This collaboration always
was
of mutual benefit: Swiss geologists have access to unique field sites and
in
turn a significant number of Omani geologists have beed educated in
Switzerland. Until 2001, this activity has not involved meteorite
research, but
was purely earth science oriented. During all this time samples were
exported
with permits from the Directorate General of Minerals (DGM), Ministry of
Commerce and Industry, which is responsible for minerals.
After the first publication of many Oman meteorite finds in Met. Bull. 84
(2000), we asked for the permission to search for meteorites on the basis
of a
collaboration in the tradition mentioned above. This permission was
granted.
Since 2001, we have conducted four search campaigns in collaboration with
and
involving Omani geologists. Our permission only concerns the collection
and
export for study, all samples are defined as Omani property up to this
date. We
do not have a problem with this, as our interest is purely scientific. We
have
contributed with the finds to an exhibition at the Natural History Museum
Bern
(Nov. 03-Sept 04) where, among others, the main mass of SaU 169 was shown
to
the public for nearly a year.
We do not have in any way the feeling that our group should be the only
one
having the permission to search in Oman. We have communicated repeatedly
to DGM
that we would not mind if other groups get a permission, provided that
information on the exact location is gathered and all specimens are
classified/
checked for pairing. We have also repeatedly suggested that the laws/
regulations should be made accessible either by publication in a journal
(e.g.
MAPS) or on a website.
As scientists and museologists we prefer to maintain good relations with
the
community of collectors and dealers (of meteorites and minerals). We do
not
have and never had have the intention, therefore, to turn in persons that
have
been searching for meteorites in Oman. No Swiss person has taken action to
provoke the arrests of foreign meteorite searchers.
Nevertheless, we support the idea of the Omani governments to get control
over
the, so far, mostly unregulated collecting activities. In this context it
is
certainly true that our collaboration with DGM has led to an increased
awareness of meteorites and their scientific value in Oman, and we are
eager to
contribute to a process that eventually will lead to careful and
appropriate
management of one of the richest meteorite accumulation areas in the
world.
Repeatedly it has been claimed that it was "perfectly legal" to collect
and
export meteorites from Oman. We were always aware that this is not true,
even
though we have not seen the law in writing either. But we also need to
obtain a
permission for exporting any kind of common rock material. However, we
would be
very interested to know should anybody have gotten information from an
official
Omani source (e.g. embassy) that exporting of rocks and, inpaerticular, of
meteorites does not require a permission.
Beda Hofmann and Edwin Gnos
Natural History Museum Bern / University of Bern, Switzerland
========================================
Beda Hofmann
University of Berne
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------------------------------
This mail was sent through IMP at http://mail.unibe.ch
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