AFP: Only hundreds of items looted from Baghdad museum

[theapportioner]

I deliberately take on a subjective and subversive role on these boards, but on occasion, I'll post some good news, like this piece.
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Only hundreds of items looted from Baghdad museum: UNESCO head

LISBON (AFP) - Only hundreds of items were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad during the US-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) rather than the tens of thousands first thought, the head of the UN cultural preservation agency UNESCO (news - web sites) said.

Koichiro Matsuura, the director-general of the United Nations (news - web sites) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said a team of four experts arrived in the Iraqi capital on Saturday to inspect the damage done to the museum during the days of looting that swept Baghdad last month after US troops took over the Iraqi capital on April 9.

"Initially we were told that almost half of the items had been stolen, that would be between 60,000 to 70,000 items, but it now seems like less than 1,000 are missing and important items have been saved," he told reporters following talks with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.

"But 1,000 is still serious damage to the museum and to cultural heritage and we will have to recover them as much as possible."

Koichiro said the team of UNESCO experts, who were joined by three US experts in Baghdad, would help compile a detailed inventory of the missing items in order to help police efforts to recover the stolen antiquities.

The team is scheduled to return to Paris, where UNESCO is based, on Tuesday to present its findings, he added.

Interpol has launched a worldwide hunt for treasures stolen from the Baghdad museum, which housed some 170,000 objects, some dating back to between 3,000 and 2,500 BC and the rule of the Sumerian kings.

The United States has been heavily criticized for not doing enough to prevent looters raiding Iraqi museums and historical sites after they captured the Iraqi capital, even though it took steps to protect oil ministries and refineries in Iraq.

[mburbank]

Yeah, I heard this and it was an enormous relief. Still, since the official US estimate is 29 items, I think there's quite a bit of wiggle room in every direction. I hope this most recent assesment is accurate and truthful, as without such an accounting it will be very difficult to organize the recovery effort.

[Abcdxxxx]

it sounds like whatever the number is .... 27 or 100.... that the majority of the items will turn up again. i've heard stories of items being returned after "safe keeping". it's a far cry from the orginal story though.... so i wonder how curators could make the mistake of thinking the majority of the collection was taken. .. and people are still walking around insuating it.

[Wang]

hmmmmmmmmmm i wonder what kind of stuff was taken? ancient weapons, tools or what?

[mburbank]

Prolly something that will unleash an ancient evil. That's what usually happens when you rob a museum.

Seriously though, until some recognized international Museums get in their, scope things out, talk with currators, see records and assess the damage (and since there's a major Mesopotanian show at the MET right now, it's not like there isn't a world renowned team of experts on the subject currently assembled already) there's no way of knowing who's spinning what to which advantage.

[Abcdxxxx]

..but Max.... weren't you talking up the credibility of the museum and it's collection.... that takes curatorial ethics.... we shouldn't need a crack team to get in there and find out what's what.

[VinceZeb]

Wow, only a few things got stolen now. Whoop-di-fuck.

[Protoclown]

I thought you big fat guys were supposed to be jolly.

You're just sarcastic :(

[mburbank]

Tharcathtic and thtupid.


Abc, I did say that, and I'll tell you what, until there's some scholarly verification, I'm inclined to go with the Museums currators. 'Cause they're scholars. And they know the collection. And the other reports ar coming from the dsame people who told the NYT that an unidentified man in a baseball cap was an Iraqi scientist pointing to a burried cache of WMD.

[Abcdxxxx]

the "same people" ????

look it's one thing for me to question the ethics of the iraqi national museum curators but it;s a whole other ball of wax if you think i'm gonn sit here while you snub the iraqi national baseball team.

[mburbank]

Hey, I liked that!