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Iraqi
Officials to Hide Babylon Antiques to Protect Them From Bombing
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Many Babylon treasures were
damaged by U.S.-U.K bombing; looted treasures ended up in
black markets in Europe and North America
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MOSUL,
September 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Officials in Iraq
have started to pack away the treasures of Assyria, Sumeria and
Babylon at the archaeological sites and the museum at Mosul in
preparation for the war to come, a U.K. newspaper reported Monday,
September 30.
The
Independent said that a lesson has been learnt from the damage
inflicted in raids by American and British bombers in the Gulf War,
and the looting which followed in its immediate anarchic aftermath.
The
paper quoted Manhal Jabar, the director of antiquities, talking of his
worries that still far too much will be left exposed.
The
city and its hinterland has been repeatedly targeted by the allies.
Last month, they destroyed the radar at the airport. Now, the fate of
the priceless antiquities at Mosul is causing deep international
worry, said the Independent.
Jabar
was in London last March discussing the problem with British
specialists, including Professor David Oates of Cambridge and John
Curtis of the British Museum, the paper said, adding that two ancient
sites were damaged by American bombs in 1991 while a leaning minaret
built in 640 narrowly escaped destruction in 1994.
"It
is obviously something that is causing unease. If there is war, and
they are saying this war is going to be even worse than 1991, then we
must accept there will be losses to this heritage," the Independent
quoted Jabar as saying.
According
to the paper, the plan is to move the antiquities to underground
vaults, the locations of which are being kept secret, not least to
prevent the kind of systematic theft which took place in 1991, when
the Iraqi regime lost control of parts of the country.
Stolen
items from museums and sites ended up on the black market in Europe
and North America, the Independent said, adding that among the
wealth of archaeology surrounding Mosul is Nimrud, which became the
second capital of Assyria in 1283 BC.
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