Iraq Relic - Valuable Sumerian relic returned to national museum
TAPE: EF03/0858
IN_TIME: 23:15:46
DURATION: 1:38
SOURCES: APTN
RESTRICTIONS:
DATELINE: Baghdad - 23 Sep 2003
SHOTLIST:
1. Lady of Warka being brought into the museum
2. Various of Lady of Warka
3. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Dr Jabir Ibrahim, Head of Antiquities Commission, Iraqi National Museum:
"With all the happiness of this occasion, the museum employees thank all the people responsible for helping us to get back the head of the Lady of Warka."
4. Various of Lady of Warka
5. Various of relics at Iraqi National Museum
6. People looking at exhibition at Iraqi National Museum
STORYLINE:
One of Iraq's most precious relics, looted during the fall of Baghdad, was handed back to the Iraqi national museum on Tuesday.
Dr. Jabir Ibrahim, Head of the museum's Antiquities Commission thanked US soldiers and Iraqi police for their efforts in recovering the Lady of Warka.
The 5,200-year-old artifact, known as 'the Sumerian Mona Lisa' is a representation of female face. It was found buried in an orchard on the outskirts of Baghdad after the Antiquities Department was tipped off by people who had reported seeing it there.
According to Ibrahim, the department received information in mid-August about a group of people trying to sell the Lady of Warka. The negotiations collapsed for unknown reasons, and the relic was subsequently hidden in the orchard.
The artifact, from the ancient city of Warka in southern Iraq, was recovered on September 16 in a joint operation conducted by U.S. military police and Iraqi police.
The looting and destruction in April 2003 triggered deep criticism of U.S. forces both in Iraq and abroad. Museum curators and archaeologists worldwide said the United States should have protected the precious treasures, dating to the earliest days of settled human history.
Some looted items have been recovered under a no-questions-asked amnesty programme, while others were found in raids or in government vaults where they had been put for safekeeping. Ibrahim said, however, that Iraqi authorities
had recovered only about 2,000 of 13,000 looted treasures.
The museum, still closed, is now guarded by the Iraqi police forces that work under the supervision of the U.S. military. A gallery of artifacts from the Assyrian era is expected to reopen soon.