Oslo police detain man in Scream theft

Police made their first arrest yesterday in last year's theft of the iconic painting The Scream and expressed hope of recovering the 1893 masterpiece by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch.

The Scream and another Munch painting Madonna were stolen by armed robbers in a daytime raid on an Oslo art museum in August in front of dozens of tourists.

The pictures are still missing, but Oslo police said in a statement that the arrest could lead to their recovery.

"The Oslo police district does not rule out more arrests in the case," it said. "The police are optimistic that the investigation will produce results and that the pictures will be brought back to the Munch Museum."

The man in his 30s was arrested in Oslo and charged as an accessory to the crime, police said. They declined to identify him further or say how he was thought to be involved.

"We are in a crucial phase of the investigation and it is important that we keep this information close to us," police attorney Morten Hojem Ervik told Reuters.

Two masked robbers ran into the Munch Museum on August 22, threatened staff with a handgun and forced people to lie down before yanking the pictures off the wall and walking out the front door to a get-away car that was found the same day.

Worth millions of dollars, the pictures are among Munch's best-known, even though he produced several versions of both works.

The Scream is an icon of existential angst, showing a waif-like figure against a blood-red sky. Madonna, also from 1893, shows a mysterious bare-breasted woman with flowing black hair.

"We have been optimistic all the time and continue to be because these paintings are known all over the world, and we do not think there is any market for them," Mr Ervik said.

"So we think that one way or another they will show up and that we will be there at the right time," he said.