The president of Peru said Friday that Yale University has agreed to return thousands of artifacts that had been taken away from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu almost a hundred years ago.

LIMA, Peru, May 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Peruvian government Saturday authorized the intervention of armed forces in the Amazon to crack down on growing indigenous protests against new decrees aimed at facilitating the entry of oil, mining, logging and agricultural companies into indigenous lands without prior consultation or consent.

Peruvian cabinet ministers were reported ready to resign Friday over an alleged oil concession scandal, officials said, Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said they would leave their fate up to President Alan Garcia Perez, who has ordered an investigation.

Little international attention has been paid to the recent conflict between the Peruvian government and thousands of indigenous people in the oil-rich Amazon region over President Alan Garcia's attempt to make it easier for tribal communities to sell their land.

By ALEX EMERY Peru plans to choose the operators of two natural-gas pipelines in September as it tries to boost gas consumption and reduce the Andean country's dependence on crude oil imports, President Alan Garcia says.