In a statement, Annan endorsed a call by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for other countries to "join forces with UNESCO in the work to prevent trade in stolen Iraqi objects."

UNESCO is to host a meeting of about 30 Iraqi and other experts at its Paris headquarters on Thursday to take stock of damage done to the country's cultural heritage.

Earlier Tuesday, a former advisor to the Iraqi culture minister accused US forces of doing nothing to prevent looters ransacking the national museum in Baghdad after they overran the city last week.

"The US tanks were standing in front of the main gate of the Iraq National Museum when the looters broke in from a gate a few yards away. They did not do anything," said archaeology professor Muayyed Said al-Damergi.

Annan "deplores the catastrophic losses to Iraq's cultural heritage that have occurred in recent days and weeks," his deputy spokeswoman, Hua Jiang, said in a statement.

"He urges the Iraqi people to do what they can to restore that invaluable heritage by returning any looted items, and calls on the coalition authorities to act immediately to prevent further losses by protecting Iraq's archaeological and religious sites, museums and other cultural institutions."

The statement was issued after Annan left New York to attend a European Union summit in Athens which is expected to focus on post-war reconstruction in Iraq.

In the statement, Annan described Iraq's cultural treasures as "an invaluable legacy for all humanity" and said "their loss is a wound inflicted on all humankind."

SPACE.WIRE