The former director of the National Museum of Iraq has spoken out against plans to reopen it.
Donny George Youkhanna, the museum's director from November 2003 until he resigned and went into exile in the US in August 2006, said: "It is not the right time to open the museum. This will be a limited kind of opening - a symbolic opening for publicity. It looks like the government want to use this to say that it is OK in Baghdad. But we know that it is not OK right now."
The Iraqi government is expected to reopen just the Assyrian and Islamic halls in the early part of this year.
Roberto Parapetti, the project director at the Rome office of the Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi, which has administrated the refurbishment of the two halls with funding from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Fondazione Banca Nazionale delle Comunicazioni, said: "The opening date is the local authorities' decision. The first idea is to reopen to give a sign to the population."
Due to the security situation in the Iraqi capital, Parapetti has administered the project from Italy. "I correspond with a local contractor and he sends pictures," he said. "As I can't supervise and direct the work, it is frustrating."
He added that the project had cost hundreds of thousands of euros.
Only objects that were too large to remove from the Assyrian and Islamic halls will be on display when the museum reopens, alongside a series of statues from Hatra, in the main courtyard.
There are no plans to open any of the other galleries, which have been closed since April 2003.
John Curtis, keeper of the Middle East collections at the British Museum, said the opening of the museum was an aspiration rather than a definite plan, and dependent on the security situation.
Matthew Bogdanos, the colonel in the US Marine Corps Reserves who led the investigation into the looting of the museum in April 2003, said it should reopen.
Patrick Steel
Reaction to reopening
Donny George Youkhanna
"It is not the right time to open the museum. It should be the last thing to open, after Iraq and Baghdad are 100 per cent safe."
Matthew Bogdanos
"The symbolism and the iconography of the museum make it a more valuable target for the bad guys, but if you keep the museum closed, then the bad guys win."
John Curtis
The reopening of the National Museum of Iraq is an aspiration rather than a definite plan, and dependent on the security situation.
Donny George Youkhanna, the museum's director from November 2003 until he resigned and went into exile in the US in August 2006, said: "It is not the right time to open the museum. This will be a limited kind of opening - a symbolic opening for publicity. It looks like the government want to use this to say that it is OK in Baghdad. But we know that it is not OK right now."
The Iraqi government is expected to reopen just the Assyrian and Islamic halls in the early part of this year.
Roberto Parapetti, the project director at the Rome office of the Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi, which has administrated the refurbishment of the two halls with funding from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Fondazione Banca Nazionale delle Comunicazioni, said: "The opening date is the local authorities' decision. The first idea is to reopen to give a sign to the population."
Due to the security situation in the Iraqi capital, Parapetti has administered the project from Italy. "I correspond with a local contractor and he sends pictures," he said. "As I can't supervise and direct the work, it is frustrating."
He added that the project had cost hundreds of thousands of euros.
Only objects that were too large to remove from the Assyrian and Islamic halls will be on display when the museum reopens, alongside a series of statues from Hatra, in the main courtyard.
There are no plans to open any of the other galleries, which have been closed since April 2003.
John Curtis, keeper of the Middle East collections at the British Museum, said the opening of the museum was an aspiration rather than a definite plan, and dependent on the security situation.
Matthew Bogdanos, the colonel in the US Marine Corps Reserves who led the investigation into the looting of the museum in April 2003, said it should reopen.
Patrick Steel
Reaction to reopening
Donny George Youkhanna
"It is not the right time to open the museum. It should be the last thing to open, after Iraq and Baghdad are 100 per cent safe."
Matthew Bogdanos
"The symbolism and the iconography of the museum make it a more valuable target for the bad guys, but if you keep the museum closed, then the bad guys win."
John Curtis
The reopening of the National Museum of Iraq is an aspiration rather than a definite plan, and dependent on the security situation.
