[meteorite-list] Some comments regarding Oman

Tue Jun 28 16:48:00 EDT 2005

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" <beda.hofmann at nmbe.unibe.ch>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
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
> beda.hofmann at nmbe.unibe.ch
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
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