ROME - Italy has reached a verbal agreement with a U.S. museum in Cleveland for the return of artifacts Rome says have been looted or smuggled out of the country, a government lawyer said Friday.

Talks between Italy and the Cleveland Museum of Art are near their final stage, said lawyer Maurizio Fiorilli, who has helped negotiate the return of Italian antiquities from several other U.S. museums.

The negotiations with museums are part of Italy's crackdown on what it says was the smuggling or looting of ancient artifacts or works of art.

In an aggressive campaign to recover disputed treasures, Rome has reached agreements with other U.S. museums including the J. Paul Getty Museum in California and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Much of Italy's campaign had been shepherded by Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli, who stepped down this week to be replaced by the nominee of Italy's new premier, Silvio Berlusconi.

Earlier in the day, Rutelli told reporters that Italy had recently reached an agreement with the Cleveland institution that would be formalized by the new minister, Sandro Bondi.

But Fiorilli stressed that the deal was still only a verbal one, although "we are at almost the final phase" of negotiations for a written accord.

"There are no obstacles from our point of view," the lawyer said.

He said the Cleveland museum had "spontaneously" approached Italy some time ago to check if Rome was seeking to recover any of its antiquities, though Italy had not hinted at any legal action involving the Cleveland museum.

Italy says ancient treasures have ended up in museums or private collections abroad after allegedly being looted from archeological sites and then sold with false documentation. Among items recovered is a 2,500-year-old vase by Greek artist Euphronius, returned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York and unveiled in Rome earlier this year.

Italian laws require that any ancient artifact or art treasure dug up on Italian territory must be turned over to the state.

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