2 of asantehene’s jewels retrieved

Norwegian police have published the photos and names of two people
suspected of involvement in the theft of crown jewels owned by a Ghanian
leader at an Oslo hotel, and say at least two stolen items have been
retrieved.

The crown jewels belonged to Ashanti King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and were
stolen last week when he was attending a conference in the Norwegian
capital.

The two suspects, a man and woman, were believed to be from Central
America or South America, Gunnar Thorsen of the organised crime unit of
the Oslo police said.

“We are trying to establish their identities,” Thorsen told dpa, noting that the woman used two names.

A third male suspect also from the same region was arrested on Tuesday
by Swedish border police at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport. He was expected
to be extradited to Norway on Sunday, Thorsen said.

Thorsen said four gold items have been retrieved in connection with the
Swedish arrest and police were “100 per cent certain that two of the
objects belonged to the king.”

Some of the stolen items had been in the king’s family for 13 generations and were considered invaluable, Thorsen said.

Police leads include hotel security camera footage showing a man leaving
the lobby of the hotel with a suitcase believed to contain the jewels,
and a car rented in Sweden.

Police have posted photos of the suspects and missing items on the photo sharing site Flickr.