By Liang Yeqian

    ATHENS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Saturday's long-awaited opening of the new Acropolis Museum will show the world that Greece has a world-class facility suitable for the Parthenon Marbles, the Greek culture minister says.

    British Museum officials have rebuffed repeated Greek requests for the return of the 2,500-year-old marbles removed from the Parthenon in 1806 by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire when it ruled Greece.

    The modern glass and concrete museum, Culture Minister Antonis Samaras told Xinhua during a recent interview, knocks down British contentions that Greece has no decent place to house the sculptures.

    "I think now the argument no longer exists," Samaras said. "The new argument, a great argument, is not a simple revaluation of the marbles but the reunification of the marbles."

    He likened the absent marbles to family photos that have been cut into several sections.

    "You need to get photos with whole family members together," Samaras said. "You cannot cut works of Picasso, Rembrandt or Da Vinci into two parts, showing half of them in Spain, other parts in Paris, London or Italy."

    The 177 million-dollar museum, initially scheduled to open before the 2004 Athens Olympics, will host most of the Acropolis finds. That includes some of the best surviving works of classical sculpture that once adorned the structure's marble temples.

    The museum, designed by U.S.-based architect Bernard Tschumi in collaboration with Greece's Michalis Photiadis, contains more than 4,000 ancient works in 20,000 square meters of display space.

    "Statues are all around us. You can study the statues from all the sides, you can talk to the statues," Samaras said. "It is a unique experience."

    Samaras said the opening of the museum, which exploits natural light and offers panoramic views of Athens from nearly every hall, means a lot to Greece.

    Dignitaries from around the world will attend the opening ceremony at the foot of the Acropolis.

    "It is a great day for us," he said. "I am happy the whole international community, including China, sheds light on the opening of the new Acropolis museum. "

    Samaras said culture exchanges with China would be great for both countries.

    "I believe that Chinese people should have the opportunity to see these sculptures, I am not talking about Parthenon marbles specifically, I am talking about Greek culture in general," he said.

    "We feel very close. Greek people love Chinese very much. I think Chinese like Greek too."