It was a treasure-in-exile. Piece by piece, the cherished objects from Afghanistan were assembled in Switzerland in a rare agreement among Afghans after nearly 20 years of fighting against Soviet occupation and then each other.

Even the Taliban, who later were to destroy the gigantic Buddha statues at Bamiyan, joined in the race to save the country's national heritage – jewelry, documents, a foundation stone laid by Alexander the Great; and the simple implements of Afghan life – an ornamented copper waterpipe, a wooden pitchfork and hand-woven carpets.

Now international and Afghan authorities have declared Kabul safe for their return, and the collection of some 1,500 pieces is going home to Afghanistan's national museum, probably on March 15 aboard a German air force plane.

In 1998, when Afghans realized that most of its national heritage had been destroyed, they asked Switzerland to take what remained, Paul Bucherer, director of the Afghanistan Museum in the northwestern Swiss town of Bubendorf, told The Associated Press.

"It was a joint request from the Taliban and the Northern Alliance," two of the major fighting forces at the time, said Bucherer, an expert in Afghan history and culture who has often visited the country and had high-level contact with both sides.

But getting the treasure out of Afghanistan was extremely difficult.

A cargo flight that would have brought thousands of artifacts to Switzerland in 2000 had to be canceled because of problems in obtaining international legal authorization to export the objects, Bucherer said.

In fighting the following January, the collection was destroyed, he said.

But individuals had already started bringing items to the Swiss museum – Afghans on trips to Europe, Europeans who had collected artifacts while living in Afghanistan in more peaceful times.

The first objects were brought "by Taliban and other Afghans carried in their hand-luggage in 1999," Bucherer said.

Some had been illegally excavated, but "We didn't want to ask questions," he said. "Anyone who brought something was welcome.''

The showpiece is a foundation stone laid by Alexander the Great when starting to build the Greek city now known as Ai-Khanum, in northern Afghanistan, some 2,300 years ago.

There is also a gargoyle in the shape of a dog's head from Ai-Khanum. It had been stolen from Afghanistan's national museum and later given to the Swiss by a private individual.

The Swiss museum, which has received an estimated 50,000 visitors since opening in 2000, has already closed its doors for good.

Bucherer said it's the biggest repatriation of cultural heritage since the 1939 return of the most important works to Madrid's Prado museum from Geneva following the Spanish civil war.

Bucherer also heads Bibliotheca Afghanica, a private foundation which helped Swiss-based scientists to create a computer model of the destroyed Buddha statues.

The statues which the Taliban judged un-Islamic and dynamited in March 2001 despite international outcry, are on the ancient Silk Road linking Europe and Central Asia.

Kabul is considered safe enough for the objects to be handed back, said Laurent Levi-Strauss, who heads UNESCO's cultural property and museums section.

"Last summer, we received the request from the Afghan authorities. After consultation with the U.N. in Kabul, we decided that it would be possible to authorize the return," Levi-Strauss told the AP.

Bucherer agreed, saying: "It will help to strengthen the self-confidence of the Afghan people.''