Iraq's national library torched

BAGHDAD (AFP) Apr 13, 2003
Iraq's National Library, which houses a number of rare volumes, was in flames Sunday after being ransacked, said an AFP reporter who visited the site.

The library, built in 1961 across from the defense ministry, is home to Iraq's national archives.

The National Museum of Iraq, which housed a major collection of antiquities from the cradle of civilization, was partially looted on Friday amid a breakdown in order following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

SPACE.WIRE