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Stolen items from Iraq’s National Museum recovered

Iraq’s National Museum recovered on Sunday 701 artifacts stolen in the wake of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s ouster, raising hopes of restoring the nation’s rich cultural heritage after five years of war.

Syrian authorities, who seized the looted treasures smuggled across the border, turned them over to the Iraqis, who carefully packed them in 17 boxes and flew them back to Baghdad on Saturday, said Muna Hassan, head of an Iraqi committee working to restore the artifacts.

The golden necklaces, daggers, pots and other artifacts were displayed for journalists during a ceremony attended by Syrian and Iraqi officials at the museum, which remains closed to the public, in central Baghdad.

Widespread looting in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities following Saddam’s ouster in April 2003 depleted the Babylonian, Sumerian and Assyrian collections that chronicled some 7,000 years of civilization in ancient Mesopotamia.

Iraqi and world culture officials have struggled to retrieve the treasures with little success because of fears they could be lost again amid the rampant violence and the difficulties in documenting the extent of the damage.

Some of the artifacts stolen from Baghdad’s museum by looters during the invasion have been returned, including a prized statue of an ancient king — the oldest known representation of the king Entemena of ancient Iraq — in July 2006.

But Hassan said Syria was the first country to return such a large quantity of stolen antiquities and officials hoped others countries would follow its lead.

Syrian authorities said the artifacts were seized from traffickers over the past five years. They said some of the smugglers were arrested but did not say how many.

Mohammad Abbas al-Oreibi, the acting state minister of tourism and archeology, said he would visit Jordan soon to try to persuade authorities to turn over more than 150 items seized there.

“The treasures contain very important and valuable pieces,” al-Oreibi said. “This was a positive initiative taken by Syria and we wish the same initiative to be taken by all neighboring countries.”

Some of the returned artifacts were copies, while the originals bore serial numbers from the national museum, Hassan said. Other items apparently were unearthed recently in Iraq.

Emina Idan, the head of state board of antiquities and heritage, said 701 pieces had been returned. The head of the Syrian Antiquities Department, Bassam Jamous, said some of the objects were from the Bronze Age and early Islamic era.
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