Peru withdraws some claims in lawsuit

New Haven, Conn. (AP) - Peru has voluntarily agreed to withdraw fraud and conspiracy allegations it made against Yale University in a civil lawsuit seeking the return of Inca artifacts removed from the famed Machu Picchu citadel nearly a century ago.

The South American nation recently filed papers in federal court dismissing six of 17 counts from its lawsuit. Peru filed the lawsuit in 2008 demanding Yale return artifacts
taken by famed scholar Hiram Bingham III between 1911 and 1915.

The Machu Picchu ruins, perched in the clouds at 8,000 feet above sea level on an Andean mountaintop, are Peru's main tourist attraction.

The withdrawal of some claims comes after Peru hired new lawyers who said the move would simplify the case and "facilitate resolution" of the dispute.