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DIRECTION GENERALE DES RELATIONS CULTURELLES
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Secrétariat Général des Fouilles ----
20 March 1948
The Secretary General of the Commission des Fouilles,
A
Mr. the Consul of France at the Islands of Malta and Cyprus.
On my return from Cyprus and the Near East, one has forwarded to the excavation secretariat a copy of your two reports of 22.8.47 and 28.11.47.
As regards the first of these reports and the risks to which you allude, I have the honour to inform you that the transfer of excavation grants directly to our diplomatic or consular posts, and from there, to the account of the persons concerned in the countries where they operate has been adopted because it constitutes the best guarantee that the grants are spent in accordance with the instructions of the Commission des Fouilles, entrusted by the Direction Générale des Relations Culturelles with the organisation of all French archaeological missions abroad. The person concerned receives in France only the sum that corresponds to his fare by sea or air to reach his excavation site.
As regards the second report, I regret that the Head of Mission was obliged to have recourse to the kindness of Mr Lapierre. However, the delay in the transfer of funds is not attributable to him. On the contrary, the Head of Mission was hindered in his research work by the delay in the arrival of the funds.
Mr Lapierre was invited in 1946 and 1947 to come and visit the French excavations at Enkomi. He did in fact follow up this invitation this year and took to the excavation site the pupils of the announced classes of the Larnaca Lycée.
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