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| Iraq-Jordan |
| West blasted over Iraq treasures |
| 2004-04-15 |
| The man in charge of recovering treasures looted from Baghdad’s museum a year ago has criticised Western governments for failing to co-operate. Matthew Bogdanos said 4,500 artefacts had been recovered so far, but 8,000 works - including some of the most valuable - were still missing. The Interpol, France, Switzerland and Dubai had all failed to respond, he told the BBC’s Today programme. Surprise Surprise The museum was looted last April, in the days after Saddam Hussein’s fall. Initial fears that 170,000 artefacts had been stolen proved unfounded. The US appointed a 13-member team with military, immigration and customs personnel to recover the stolen goods. Colonel Bogdanos, the team’s head, said on Tuesday he could not find the words to express his anger at international law enforcement agencies for failing to help trace "some of the most priceless artefacts known to mankind". "I cannot seem to get the international community - apart from the UK, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait and the US - interested in participating," he said. What, no France or Germany? Maybe this is a new Artefacts For Oil, scandal "I can’t seem to convince them... that this is a worldwide epidemic problem that needs immediate resolution." Colonel Bogdanos said although the Interpol would be an ideal candidate to facilitate a global investigation, it was "unwilling or unable" to do so. He added that the recovery of the Iraqi artefacts would be left to "sheer luck", unless more governments were ready to devote resources and personnel. Investigators believe some objects were stolen to order and smuggled out of the country. And the order sheets were written in impeccable French Thousands of valuable bead-shaped seals were stolen from locked, concealed store rooms. Other important archaeological sites were also ransacked across Iraq, historically known as Mesopotamia and seen as the birthplace of modern civilisation. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 Thnkx Hoserman! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-04-15 11:49:53 PM |
| #9 He sounds like a standup guy doing a tough job our purported "allies" have stonewalled on. Keep the outrage! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-15 4:38:14 PM |
| #8 Lucky, that was the policy that Matthew Bogdanos used to recover many of the artifacts from the museum. He is a fantastic man; I have never seen a Jarhead anthropologist before but he is top notch. The remaining missing treasures are from the crate of small items that professional thieves with inside knowledge walked through a number of undisturbed basement rooms and past numerous undisturbed cabinets to get to. Bogdanos is saying that he would need help from all EU members, the likeliest market, in order to track the items back from the supply side to the Baathist thugs at the other end of the transactions. These items would have been easy to get out of the country and were minor enough items that they could have been sold without going through a specialist. I saw some National Geographic special where they tracked back some of the treasures including renting a submersible pump to clear water from around the bank vault where the expensive stuff was found. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-15 4:27:08 PM |
| #7 Maybe there could be an amnesty day. A "don't ask don't tell" moment. Everybody who has treasure can return it without any charges. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-04-15 12:10:22 PM |
| #6 It will never cease to amaze me how well the LLLs play the blame game. Everyone knows it was Saddam's goons and the Ba'athists who ransacked the place, yet it's everyone else's job to clean up the mess and to take the blame. |
| Posted by: Unmutual 2004-04-15 12:00:40 PM |
| #5 Start with the homes and safe deposit boxes of the Ba'athists who looted the museum. Then work your way around the art world -- private collectors, auction houses, etc. Assemble the intel and build the links. Golly gee, isn't this what Interpol is for? Why the |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-04-15 11:29:01 AM |
| #4 We'll put that in our list of priorities... right after drinking water, reliable electricity, public education, local representative government...parking meters, comfy bus stop benches, and baby duck sanctuaries. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-04-15 10:26:40 AM |
| #3 I heard an interview with Col. Bogdanos, and he is due to rotate out of Iraq. One he's gone, there's no. body. else. Nada. The rest of the missing artwork will go un-looked for. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4119 2004-04-15 9:56:17 AM |
| #2 did they look on Chirac's mantle? |
| Posted by: B 2004-04-15 9:12:23 AM |
| #1 How did that happen? I only pressed the button once, but there is an ant-virus scan on my computer being run at present. Please delete one, Fred. |
| Posted by: tipper 2004-04-15 4:24:47 AM |