US to introduce UN resolution on Iraqi artifacts

The United States has prepared a UN Security Council resolution asking nations to be on the alert for and return any Iraqi relics looted fro...

The United States has prepared a UN Security Council resolution asking nations to be on the alert for and return any Iraqi relics looted from the National Museum in Baghdad, diplomats said on Monday.

The envoys had expected the measure to be introduced this week but said this might be delayed. Other diplomats said it could be combined with a larger resolution on lifting sanctions against Iraq, which also has not been presented yet.

Saddam son took $1 bln from Iraq vaults: NYT

NEW YORK: A son of Saddam Hussein and a close adviser carried off nearly $1 billion in cash from Iraq’s central bank at 4 am on March 18, hours before the US-led war on the country began, the New York Times reported on its web site late on Monday. Qusay, the deposed leader’s second son, and Abid al-Hamid Mahmood, carried a letter from Saddam authorising the removal of the money, the newspaper reported. The amount was so large — $900 million in American bills and $100 million worth of Euros — that three tractor trailers were needed to carry it, the newspaper reported, citing an Iraqi official. US officials and Iraqis interviewed said they did not know where the money went. (Reuters)

The resolution would call on countries to not allow any imports of Iraqi antiquities and return any they discover to the museum, the envoys said.

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Among the most precious treasures stolen from the museum, which housed thousands of rare objects and artifacts from Mesopotamia, were the Vase of Uruk and the Harp of Ur, dating back to between 3,000 and 2,500 BC and the rule of the Sumerian kings.

Interpol has launched a worldwide hunt for stolen treasures and warned collectors not to buy art treasures they suspected had been stolen.

But experts, who believe organised criminal gangs may have been behind some of the looting, fear many objects will never be recovered.

Dr Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, has acknowledged that there was a flourishing trade in Mesopotamian antiquities from the cradle of civilisation.

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