By JOHN ROGERS
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that a Spanish museum that acquired a priceless, Nazi-looted painting in 1992 is the work's rightful owner, not the survivors of the Jewish woman who surrendered it to escape the Holocaust.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter ruled Tuesday that under Spanish law, Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is entitled to keep the Camille Pissarro painting, "Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie."

The stunning oil-on-canvas work has been the subject of a bitter fight between the museum and the Southern California family of Lilly Cassirer since her family discovered it in 1999.

Although Walter called Spain's refusal to give the painting up "inconsistent" with international agreements to return Nazi-looted art, he said the law requires he rule in the country's favor.

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