Mexico demands return of Aztec relic frtom Austria

Mexico to pressure Austria over Aztec relic Mexico plans to press Austria once again to return a centuries old bejewelled feather headdress now in an Austrian museum, Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez said on Thursday.
President Vicente Fox will personally ask for its return at a summit of Latin American and European leaders in Vienna in May if there is no progress before then.

"If we are still without results at the time of the May meeting in Austria, we will reiterate via the president our request to the government that this be resolved," Derbez said.

Fox already asked Austrian President Heinz Fischer during a visit to Mexico in 2005 to return the piece. Many Mexicans consider the headdress their country's single most important relic.

The artifact is nearly a yard (metre) wide and made from more than 450 elegant, vivid green feathers of the quetzal bird mounted in a jewel and gold encrusted crown.