Italy Celebrates

ROME (Reuters) - Italy proudly celebrated the return on Friday of a prized 2,500-yeard old vase it says was looted and sold illegally to New York's Metropolitan Museum more than 30 years ago.

The krater, a perfectly preserved Greek vessel for mixing water and wine which was the showpiece of the Met's antiquities collection for more than three decades, was unveiled in Rome -- the first time it has been on display in Italy.

The return of the vase, considered the best work of Greek artisan Euphronios, is part of the agreement Italy reached with the Met in February 2006 ending decades of wrangling over antiquities Rome says were plundered.

Italy says the krater, which was bought by the Met in 1972 for $1 million, was illegally excavated from a tomb in Cerveteri, near Rome.