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West blasted over Iraq treasures
The man in charge of recovering treasures looted from Baghdadâs museum a year ago has criticised Western governments for failing to co-operate. Matthew Bogdanos said 4,500 artefacts had been recovered so far, but 8,000 works - including some of the most valuable - were still missing. The Interpol, France, Switzerland and Dubai had all failed to respond, he told the BBCâs Today programme. Surprise Surprise The museum was looted last April, in the days after Saddam Husseinâs fall. Initial fears that 170,000 artefacts had been stolen proved unfounded. The US appointed a 13-member team with military, immigration and customs personnel to recover the stolen goods. Colonel Bogdanos, the teamâs head, said on Tuesday he could not find the words to express his anger at international law enforcement agencies for failing to help trace "some of the most priceless artefacts known to mankind". "I cannot seem to get the international community - apart from the UK, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait and the US - interested in participating," he said. What, no France or Germany? Maybe this is a new Artefacts For Oil, scandal "I canât seem to convince them... that this is a worldwide epidemic problem that needs immediate resolution." Colonel Bogdanos said although the Interpol would be an ideal candidate to facilitate a global investigation, it was "unwilling or unable" to do so. He added that the recovery of the Iraqi artefacts would be left to "sheer luck", unless more governments were ready to devote resources and personnel. Investigators believe some objects were stolen to order and smuggled out of the country. And the order sheets were written in impeccable French Thousands of valuable bead-shaped seals were stolen from locked, concealed store rooms. Other important archaeological sites were also ransacked across Iraq, historically known as Mesopotamia and seen as the birthplace of modern civilisation. Posted by: tipper 2004-04-15 |
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