Ebay, the world's biggest online marketplace, was this week accused of allowing the sale of smuggled Ethiopian treasures on its website.

Academics said they had evidence that holy historic crosses - and at least one sacred manuscript - were being auctioned off through eBay despite an Ethiopian government ban on the export of cultural and religious antiques.

Elizabeth Giorgis, acting director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa University, said she was writing to eBay directors to demand they block the sales. "It is totally inappropriate for a company like eBay to be selling these smuggled treasures," she added.

"They are in effect encouraging people to rob the country of its cultural heritage. They have a moral obligation to protect these objects."

Giorgis decided to speak out after being contacted by a number of Ethiopians in the US who had seen a number historical Ethiopian objects for sale on the website.

In one case, an eBay seller claimed he had tracked down a priest's gospel and a collection of silver crosses belonging to a cash-strapped family living in Ethiopia. He justified his high price for the items because of the difficulties arising from Ethiopia's export restrictions.

In the seller's description, he stated: "Due to current Ethiopian government export restrictions, no gospels or silver crosses are now allowed to be legally taken out of Ethiopia and for this reason the offering price is extremely reasonable and not nearly the premium that should be asked for such a valuable and rare Ethiopian religious relic of museum quality."

EBay currently has strict guidelines banning people from using its site to sell artefacts from the USA's Native American and Hawaiian populations. But the company has no similar guidelines relating to historic items from other cultures from outside North America.

"This is a clear case of double standards," said Giorgis. "Why go out of your way to protect items from your own country but do nothing to protect African treasures?"

She also questioned whether eBay has set up strong enough safeguards to prevent the sale of illegally smuggled goods via its servers. She urged it to follow the lead of bricks-and-mortar auctioneers like Christies or Sothebys who have to check the background of antiques before offering them to the public.

Giorgis was backed up by the Institute's Professor Richard Pankhurst, who is also vice chair of AFROMET (www.afromet.org) - an organization dedicated to retrieving hundreds of priceless treasures taken during the British invasion of Ethiopia in 1868.

"Unless they get permission to export these items, the sellers are breaking the law," said Pankhurst. "It is only because of the relative poverty of Ethiopia - and the high prices being offered for these objects, that is happening at all."

Hand-written goatskin bibles, prayer books and colourful illuminations dating as far back as the 17th century currently exchange hands for up to $3,900 a piece on the popular website. Many of the items are modern - and therefore exempt from export restrictions.

But the Sub Saharan Informer found at least one other case of a seller claiming to have bought an antique manuscript inside Ethiopia before exporting it to America.

Ebay was not avaialble to comment on this story as the Sub Saharan Informer went to press.