A visiting Baloch advocate has launched an international media campaign in the UAE to help Pakistan's Balochistan province claim a mummy, at the centre of a three-nation tug of war.

Advocate Khalid Ahmed of Balochistan High Court has launched the campaign on behalf of the people of Kharan district where they claim it was found by a resident. The mummified 'princess', wearing a golden crown and breastplate, became the centre of a dispute on the question of its origin.

Controversial reports and statements were issued, suggesting it belonged either to Iran or Egypt. Afghanistan's Taliban government also staked claim to it. But Ahmed categorically dismissed all the claims of Islamabad and Karachi-based archaeologists that the mummy was smuggled from a foreign country.

Media reports say the mummy was smuggled from Iran via Balochistan's Kharan district and brought to Karachi to be sold for more than $1 million. Karachi police claim they raided a house in the city and discovered the 2,600-year-old mummified 'princess'.

However, Ahmed revealed that the mummy was seized from a villa in Balochistan's provincial capital, Quetta, after it was brought by a resident of Kharan for sale. He said everyone in Quetta knows about the raid, the house and who stays there.

He accused Karachi police of stealing and smuggling the ancient find from Balochistan. Similarly, the English-language daily Balochistan Express in its editorial blasted Karachi police and termed the entire operation a theft by them.

The advocate blamed Karachi museum and an Islamabad-based archaeologist "for their thoughtless statements that the mummy did not originate from any part inside the country".

"We, the local population of Kharan can prove that the mummy was excavated in Balochistan. Despite repeated appeals, no expert was sent to Kharan to evaluate and examine local claims," he said Ahmed, who heads the associated support programme for regional development (Kharan), an organisation working for the development of the area, also invited international experts to examine the mummy and the site from where it was dug out.

"The mummy was found in the remains of an ancient settlement called Galuga in Mashkel in Kharan district, some 700 km southwest of Quetta. Galuga is 400km west of Kharan city, lying near Iranian border.

Prominent figure

"The site was discovered by Sardar Wali Mohammed Reki, a prominent figure of Mashkel. After discovering the mummy, he shifted it to Quetta and kept it in a friend's house in Satellite Town to find a potential customer or an agent to sell it.

"He and a friend made a video film of the mummy, which was taken to Karachi to find foreign customers. However, Karachi police got hold of the tape and sent a raiding party to Quetta, without the knowledge of the Balochistan government.

"This was a ridiculous operation by Karachi police to bypass local authorities. The operation was merely aimed at depriving Baloch people of their ancient history."

Ahmed, who is a local social worker, claimed that a any professional archaeologist will be able to prove that the mummy was excavated from Kharan. He said the entire district, the size of Sindh province, is dotted with virgin archaeological sites and remains of ancient settlements, where more mummies could be discovered. Most of the sites, he added, date back to the Zoroastrian era.

He added: "The mummy's link with Iran cannot be ruled out as the area was once ruled by Iran. But that does not mean the mummy belongs to Iran. The area is now a part of Pakistan, so it is the property of Pakistan.