A senior Iraqi official has called for the international community to do more to prevent the trade in antiquities looted from its archaeological sites.
Speaking at the British Museum in London in late April, Bahaa Mayah, an adviser to the Iraq minister of tourism and antiquities, said: "Our archaeological sites are suffering a lot of damage. We believe urgent action needs to be taken. The illegal trafficking and trading of our antiquities should be stopped by countries abiding by current agreements, especially the 1954 Hague Convention."
Mayah said making it illegal to trade in Iraqi antiquities would reduce looting. "Maybe the best thing is to strip the antiquities of their commercial value," he said.
He added that Syria was an example of a country that had cooperated fully. In late April, the country returned more than 700 artefacts that had been looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad.
But Mayah said that while the US had returned objects such as a 4,000-year-old headless stone statue of the Sumerian king Entemena of Lagash in 2006, Iraqi antiquities were still being traded by US auctioneers.
He also said European countries, including the UK, could do more. Elizabeth Stone, a professor at Stony Brook University in New York, who was speaking alongside Mayah, has been assessing damage to Iraq's archaeological sites. She estimated that there had been systematic looting of 15 per cent of sites. Some damage was done by US forces setting up bases in Babylon and Ur.
The British Museum is working with the British Army and Iraqi state board of antiquities to see how it can help protect archaeological sites and rehabilitate provincial museums in southern Iraq.
Speaking at the British Museum in London in late April, Bahaa Mayah, an adviser to the Iraq minister of tourism and antiquities, said: "Our archaeological sites are suffering a lot of damage. We believe urgent action needs to be taken. The illegal trafficking and trading of our antiquities should be stopped by countries abiding by current agreements, especially the 1954 Hague Convention."
Mayah said making it illegal to trade in Iraqi antiquities would reduce looting. "Maybe the best thing is to strip the antiquities of their commercial value," he said.
He added that Syria was an example of a country that had cooperated fully. In late April, the country returned more than 700 artefacts that had been looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad.
But Mayah said that while the US had returned objects such as a 4,000-year-old headless stone statue of the Sumerian king Entemena of Lagash in 2006, Iraqi antiquities were still being traded by US auctioneers.
He also said European countries, including the UK, could do more. Elizabeth Stone, a professor at Stony Brook University in New York, who was speaking alongside Mayah, has been assessing damage to Iraq's archaeological sites. She estimated that there had been systematic looting of 15 per cent of sites. Some damage was done by US forces setting up bases in Babylon and Ur.
The British Museum is working with the British Army and Iraqi state board of antiquities to see how it can help protect archaeological sites and rehabilitate provincial museums in southern Iraq.
Iraq timeline
20 March 2003: US-led invasion of Iraq begins
8-12 April 2003: Looting of National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad
April 2003: US troops set up a base at Babylon, causing widespread damage
14 May 2004: UK government announces it will sign up to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
March 2006: Coalition forces are reported to have damaged an archaeological site in Ur
26 July 2006: A 4,000-year-old statue that was looted from the National Museum of Iraq is returned from the US
27 April 2008: Syria returns 700 items looted from the National Museum of Iraq
20 March 2003: US-led invasion of Iraq begins
8-12 April 2003: Looting of National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad
April 2003: US troops set up a base at Babylon, causing widespread damage
14 May 2004: UK government announces it will sign up to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
March 2006: Coalition forces are reported to have damaged an archaeological site in Ur
26 July 2006: A 4,000-year-old statue that was looted from the National Museum of Iraq is returned from the US
27 April 2008: Syria returns 700 items looted from the National Museum of Iraq
