(8 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baghdad – 8 July 2024
1. Various of recovered artifacts displayed at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Hussein, Iraqi Foreign Minister:
“Today, I hand over to my colleague, His Excellency the Minister of Culture, the outcome of the great joint efforts by the Foreign and Culture ministries and other government agencies, which resulted in the recovery of important Iraqi antiquities which were recovered from abroad.”
3. Various of recovered artifacts displayed at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani, Minister of Culture:
“Today we received a large number of antiquities, the majority of which were brought by the Prime Minister from the United States of America, and we will have a special celebration (for these antiquities) in the Iraqi Museum.”
5. Various of pottery, writing stones, cuneiform tablets on display
6. Various of boxes containing recovered artifacts from US, adhesive tape labelled “United” on boxes
STORYLINE:
Iraq’s foreign minister hailed on Monday the joint efforts by the Foreign and Culture ministries that resulted in the recovery of some of Iraqi’s antiquities.
Some of the items are dating back to ancient Mesopotamia.
The recently recovered antiquities were handed over to Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani during his recent visit to the US.
The artifacts were displayed in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and will be displayed to the public in Iraq’s National Museum.
The smuggled artifacts included pottery shards with writing stones, cuneiform tablets and coins dating back to the ancient Sumerian civilization, some 4,000 years ago.
The objects are priceless, and they fill gaps in Iraq’s knowledge of its own history in terms of ancient languages and deeds of Mesopotamian monarchs.
Iraq’s antiquities have been looted throughout decades of wars and instability.
After the 1991 Gulf War and the chaos that followed the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s National Museum was looted, thousands priceless relics went missing leading to the loss of valuable museum collections but most of the missing items were accounted for.
The country is dotted with ancient archaeological sites that have little or no protection but, Iraq’s government has been slowly recovering the plundered antiquities in recent years.
The restoration of Iraq’s cultural heritage is now gaining a momentum and UNESCO is working closely with the Iraqi authorities to recover more artifacts.
Looted artifacts recovered from the US and other countries were handed over to Iraq’s culture ministry on Monday.
The Assyrians are one of the ancient world’s earliest and most ferocious empires.
The Iraqi Foreign ministry displayed artifacts that were smuggled out of the country in the weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
AP video shot by Ali Jabar
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