UNESCO to assess damage in Iraq's museums

AMMAN (AFP) Apr 14, 2003
The UN cultural organisation will assess the damage done to Iraq's museums where 170,000 artefacts were reportedly looted or destroyed, a UNESCO representative said here Monday.

"From what the museum officials said, there are about 170,000 items that have been looted or destroyed. That has to be assessed," UNESCO director in Jordan Ndeye Fall told journalists, commenting on the damage done to Iraq's cultural heritage.

"As soon as UNESCO is in a position to get to inside Iraq, we are going to have an assessment team do so," he added.

Last Friday a Baghdad mob looted the National Museum, the largest in Iraq, amid a breakdown in civil authority following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime two days earlier. Damage was also reported in other museums.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier Monday the United States will take a "leading role" in protecting Iraqi antiquities and will help restore damage to artifacts and the museum.

SPACE.WIRE