The Secretariat informed the Bureau of press reports according to which the site of Butrinti and its museum were looted during the civil disturbances in Albania. This information was confirmed by the Butrint Foundation and in a meeting with the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Albania to UNESCO on 16 April 1997 at which it was agreed that a joint UNESCO-ICOMOS-Butrint Foundation mission would be undertaken to the site. Due to the security situation in the country, this mission could not be undertaken before this session of the Bureau.
The Bureau expressed its great concern about the damages caused to the World Heritage site of Butrinti and the actual conditions of the site in terms of protection, management and conservation. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to undertake a mission to the site as soon as the security situation in Albania permits and to submit a report to the World Heritage Committee at its twenty-first session. This report should include an assessment of the damages to the site and the actual state of conservation, a recommendation whether the Committee should consider the inscription of the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger, as well as proposals for future actions in the framework of the World Heritage Convention and the resolution adopted by the Executive Board of UNESCO at its hundred and fifty-first session which "urges the Director-General, in close co-operation with the competent authorities of the Republic of Albania and in close co-ordination with the other international organizations concerned, to draw up a plan of action for the rehabilitation of educational, cultural and scientific institutions and the restoration of the cultural and architectural heritage in Albania".