BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 30 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mohammed al-Hakim, on Monday, handed to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, 173 artefacts that were returned from several countries.
A statement by the Foreign Ministry said, some of the artefacts were looted and smuggled outside Iraq, before being returned through coordination.
Al-Hakim “expressed readiness of the Foreign Ministry, to provide full support to the Ministry of Culture, and its committees, in their efforts to search for smuggled antiquities abroad, and to bring them back to the homeland.”
Official statistics showed that, more than 10,000 sites in Iraq, are officially recognised as archaeological sites, but most of them are not safeguarded, with many still being looted on an unprecedented scale.– NNN-NINA
