[CPProt.net] More help is needed from Iraq's neighbours, particularly Iran and Turkey, to recover thousands of antiquities looted from Baghdad's National Museum

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

More help needed recovering stolen Iraq artifacts

By CARL HARTMAN 

Friday, November 11, 2005 Posted at 5:02 PM EST

Associated Press
 
 Washington - More help is needed from Iraq's neighbours, particularly Iran
and Turkey, to recover thousands of antiquities looted from Baghdad's
National Museum during the battle for the city in 2003, says the U.S.
investigator who led the initial search.

While Jordan has recovered 2,000 objects, no Iraqi antiquities have been
reported in Iran or Turkey, which have long, porous borders with Iraq.

"I find that incomprehensible," said Col. Matthew Bogdanos, a Marine
Reservist who served as an assistant district attorney in New York for 14
years before being called to active duty four years ago.

Col. Bogdanos was one of 11 recipients of the National Humanities Medal
awarded Thursday by President Bush. Royalties from his book about the
investigation, "Thieves of Baghdad," are being donated to the Baghdad
Museum.

Although it may have looked as if all 170,000 objects had been looted during
the fighting between American and Iraqi troops, Col. Bogdanos estimates that
only 10,000 to 15,000 items actually went missing. More than 5,000 objects
have been recovered in six countries so far.

His investigation found that there were three kinds of looters:
professionals who took some of the greatest rarities, such as the first
known realistic sculpture of a human face; indiscriminate thieves who swept
up many pieces, including copies and forgeries, into bags; and insiders who
took valuable ancient seals and jewellery.

"The net effect is that thieves are probably just biding their time, waiting
for a better day to sell their stolen wares," said the National Coalition
for History, a group of American historical associations, in a weekly
report.

Jordan has worked closely with the U.S. and Iraqi governments in identifying
and protecting the objects it has recovered. They likely will be returned
when the badly damaged museum in Baghdad is in better shape to receive them,
Col. Bogdanos said.

Based on the lack of reports from Iran and Turkey, Col. Bogdanos said either
the loot was going through their frontiers to the international black market
or finds have not been reported. He said he did not know if the U.S.
government had made any official request for information.

Col. Bogdanos, 48, has been released from active duty and expects to return
to his job in New York early next year. His first priority, he said, will be
to set up a task force in the district attorney's office for the recovery of
stolen antiquities, a group whose activities could be extended to deal with
other stolen art.

More international co-operation is needed among police, academics and
customs authorities, he said.