16 May 2003
U.S. Investigators Pursue Recovery of Iraqi Antiquities
(Broader international cooperation sought in process) (770) By Jacquelyn S. Porth Washington File Security Affairs Writer Washington --- A U.S. military officer heading a team investigating the looting of Iraqi antiquities says "every time we recover a single piece --- it's an absolute joy." It is nearly impossible to say how many items are missing from the Baghdad Museum, according to Marine Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, because there was no master list of the museum's holdings, and because some of the inventory lists for individual departments were stolen. It is difficult to pin down numbers because there are tens of thousands of items that have yet to be counted and compared to inventory lists, he said, that in some cases "don't exist or can't be found." But he confirmed that some 951 objects have been recovered or returned as part of a process that began in mid-April. As the senior military officer on a 14-member investigative team, Bogdanos told reporters through a May 16th video teleconference from Baghdad -- that all the missing items are "priceless treasures," and the United States is committed to their restoration --- a process which could take years. In some cases, items have been recovered when U.S. forces collected them, or, Iraqi citizens have turned over hundreds of pieces as part of an amnesty program under which items could be returned without questions or penalties. Bogdanos also said hundreds of items were returned by Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Ahmed Chalabi. INC representatives came across a white pickup truck near al-Kut a few weeks ago, he said, and confiscated the contents of a footlocker from the car when it was stopped at a checkpoint. They passed on the contents to Chalabi, who in turn, passed them to the Americans. Bogdanos said multiple groups are thought to have been involved in the looting of Iraqi antiquities, including indiscriminate looters, individuals who had an intimate knowledge of the museum's storage practices and some who seemed to know exactly what they were looking for. "The loss of a single piece of mankind's shared history is a tragedy," Bogdanos said. Yet early reporting suggesting that some 170,000 items were lost during "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was exaggerated he said. For example, he said only 21 of 451 display cases were actually broken in the museum's public gallery. He also noted that one of the earliest known Sumerian statutes of a freestanding priest and a pottery jar from the sixth millennium B.C.E. have been recovered. The U.S. team has been working closely with museum employees. Donny George, director general of research and antiquities, spoke up during the briefing to say that they are "working together as one team" to try to restore what has been taken from the museum. He expressed thanks to the team for its efforts to reverse the loss of antiquities since April 16. So far the team has not had access to the underground Central Bank vaults, which are supposed to hold over 6,000 pieces of gold and jewelry. Bogdanos said he expects members of his team will eventually be granted access by appropriate authorities for inventory purposes. The assumption is that the existing inventories will be complete and accurate, he said, but everything has to be checked. Team members have also been alerted to the existence of a secret storage area known only to certain museum employees. Bogdanos said these employees have sworn on the Koran not to reveal its location, but have promised to provide an inventory of its contents later in the week. Tracking down the missing items "will likely take years," Bogdanos said. "It will require the cooperative and concerted effort of all nations," he added. Global efforts to intercept and recover additional items will require that they be "universally recognized," Bogdanos said, and that means displaying them pictorially on web sites and in the media and in working sources in the international art and law enforcement communities. One of the significant items which is still missing is the Sacred Vase of Warka, a white limestone bowl from 3000 B.C.E. that was taken from the gallery floor of the museum. Bogdanos said a portion of his team will continue the process of inventorying. For example, some members will likely travel to Jordan soon, where customs officials have some antiquities ready for photographing, since they could be of Iraqi origin. While the overall goal of the investigation is to recover missing artifacts, Bogdanos also said its findings will be passed on to the future Iraqi government for possible legal action if deemed appropriate. (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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