Most Missing Iraqi Antiquities Found in Secret Vault

Missing Iraqi Antiquities Found in Secret Vault
June 7 ?- By Andrew Marshall

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Almost all of the priceless items feared stolen from the Baghdad Museum when it was ransacked by looters have been found safe in a secret vault, the U.S.-led administration for Iraq said on Saturday.

A special team of U.S. investigators working at the museum to check the extent of the looting has concluded that around 3,000 items were still lost or stolen, compared with initial estimates of up to 170,000. Most of the missing items were used for research, rather than exhibition.

"Earlier this week, 179 boxes that contained the vast majority of the museum's exhibition collection were discovered safe in a secret vault," the administration said in a statement.

"The discovery of these boxes containing nearly 8,000 of the most important items from the museum's collection means that the work of the investigation team is drawing to a close."

The failure of U.S. forces to prevent Baghdad Museum being plundered sparked a storm of protest around the world in April. The U.S. military said its men were initially too busy fighting in the streets around the museum to halt the looting.

But many of the items feared lost have been discovered. Some were taken home by staff for safekeeping, and others were found hidden elsewhere, including the large haul in a secret vault. Staff initially refused to reveal the location of the vault until U.S. troops had left Iraq, but later relented.

TREASURE OF NIMRUD

Another trove of priceless jewelry, the Treasure of Nimrud, was found in a flooded Central Bank vault on Thursday.

The Nimrud artefacts, hundreds of gold and gem-studded pieces from the ancient kingdom of Assyria, were retrieved by U.S. investigators after the vaults below the gutted shell of the looted bank building were drained.

The treasures, discovered between 1988 and 1990 in ancient royal tombs below an Assyrian palace dating from the ninth century BC, had been feared lost. But U.S. investigators learned they had been placed in a central bank vault in the early 1990s, possibly to protect them during the 1991 Gulf War.

"They were never lost," acting Central Bank Governor Faleh Salman said. "We knew all along they were there. It just took a bit of time to get at them because of the flooding."

U.S. customs agents who helped with the recovery of the treasure said that when they first entered the vaults they found bodies of looters killed in shootouts with rival gangs. But the seals on the crates of treasure were intact.

The U.S.-led administration said the Nimrud treasure seemed to be in good condition. A team of experts from the British Museum would arrive soon to assess conservation needs.

The customs agents said it was not known how the vaults came to be flooded, but they suspect Iraqis deliberately let water in to stop looters -- or members of Saddam Hussein's inner circle -- making off with the money and valuables inside.

Despite the recovery of many of the museum's treasures in the last week, the U.S.-led administration said 47 items from the main exhibition -- the museum's most treasured pieces -- had not been found.