[MSN] Iraqi National Musem receives 1, 000 antiquities unearthed at sites south of Baghdad

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

  Iraqi National Musem receives 1,000 antiquities unearthed at sites 
south of Baghdad

The Associated Press
Monday, December 17, 2007

*BAGHDAD:* Iraqi archaeologists working in a city south of Baghdad 
unearthed more than 1,000 antiquities and delivered them Monday to the 
National Museum, which has struggled to rebuild its collection since it 
was looted in the U.S.-led invasion.

The museum has been closed to the public since 2003, but curators have 
been trying to recover some of the 15,000 stolen relics and piece 
together a collection.

Qais Hussein, who directs Iraqi archaeological digs, said the 
antiquities presented Monday were discovered by three teams at the 
beginning of the year in the Shiite city of Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers 
(80 miles) south of Baghdad.

Hussein did not say when the National Museum would be open to the public.

The looting of the museum triggered sharp criticism of U.S. forces both 
in Iraq and abroad. Museum curators and archaeologists worldwide blamed 
the United States for not preventing the theft of thousands of 
treasures, some of them dating from the earliest days of human history.

http://www.iht.com/