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| Sunday, 18 May 2003 |
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U.S. recovers 951 Iraqi National Museum items WASHINGTON, Saturday (Reuters) U.S. investigators have recovered 951 items looted from Iraq's National Museum, but have not gained access to central bank vaults thought to contain priceless objects or a secret storage site known only to museum staff, the lead investigator said on Friday. Marine Col. Matthew Bogdanos, leader of the team investigating the museum's losses, was unable to give a firm figure on the number of items still missing from the museum's collection following the looting spree in the days after U.S. forces entered Baghdad. In a briefing from Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon, Bogdanos said his team of 14 investigators has recovered 951 items, either by going out and retrieving them from various sites in Iraq or through a "no-questions-asked" policy toward anyone returning looted antiquities. Some of the recovered items include one of the oldest known bronze relief bowls, a pottery jar from the 6th millennium BC, and one of the earliest known Sumerian statues, he said. Among the many items still missing, Bogdanos added, is the Sacred Vase of Warka, a Sumerian limestone bowl dating from 3000 BC engraved with an image of the goddess In-nin. He said this was one of 42 objects stolen from the pubic galleries of the museum. He said nine of these items have been recovered, leaving 33 still missing. There are countless other items missing from storage areas, he said. |
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