Sawt Falasteen - France intensifies hunt for Louvre raiders as museum security scrutinised

Sunday's audacious daylight robbery -- which lasted just seven minutes -- was the latest in a string of thefts from French museums in recent months, and has left authorities scrambling to increase protection measures.

In a separate case, a prosecutor said on Tuesday that a Chinese woman had been charged over taking part in the theft of more than $1 million worth of gold nuggets from another Paris museum last month.

Scores of investigators were still looking for Sunday's culprits, working on the theory that it was an organised crime group that clambered up a ladder on a truck to break into the museum, then dropped a diamond-studded crown as they fled.

Detectives were scouring video camera footage from around the Louvre as well as of main highways out of Paris for signs of the four robbers, who escaped on scooters.

- 'Worrying level of obsolescence' -

The heist has reignited a row over the lack of security in French museums, after two other institutions were hit last month.

A report by France's Court of Auditors seen by AFP covering 2019 to 2024 points to a "persistent" delay in security upgrades at the Louvre. Only a fourth of one wing was covered by video surveillance.

In January, Louvre president Laurence des Cars warned Culture Minister Rachida Dati of a "worrying level of obsolescence", citing the urgent need for major renovations.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Monday said he would tighten security outside cultural institutions.

In Sunday's heist, thieves parked a truck with an extendable ladder, like those used by movers, below the museum's Apollo Gallery shortly after it opened, climbing up and using cutting equipment to get through a window and open the display cases to steal the jewellery.

They made off with eight priceless pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.

The museum on Tuesday hit back at criticism that the display cases protecting the jewellery were fragile, saying they were installed in 2019 and "represented a considerable improvement in terms of security".

- Chinese arrest -

Just last month, criminals broke into Paris's Natural History Museum, making off with gold nuggets worth more than $1.5 million.

French authorities announced on Tuesday a 24-year-old Chinese woman has been charged and put in detention in that case after she was arrested in Barcelona, while trying to dispose of nearly one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of melted gold pieces.

Also last month, thieves stole two dishes and a vase from a museum in the central city of Limoges, the losses estimated at $7.6 million.

"Museums are increasingly targeted for the valuable works they hold," according to the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property.

Labour unions have complained that security staff positions at the Louvre have been cut, even as attendance at the world-famous museum, whose extensive collections include the Mona Lisa, has soared.

"We cannot do without physical surveillance," on union source said.

The Louvre was shut per its usual schedule on Tuesday, having been closed on Sunday and Monday after the heist, leaving crowds of disappointed tourists.

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J.AbuHassan--SF-PST