Media blamed for exaggerating loss of antiquities ( don't expect an apology.. LOL )

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...ixnewstop.html Media blamed for exaggerating loss of antiquities
By Alex Spillius in Baghdad
(Filed: 22/05/2003)


Officials at the National Museum of Iraq have blamed shoddy reporting amid the "fog of war" for creating the impression that the majority of the institution's 170,000 items were looted in the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad.

A carefully prepared storage plan, used in the Iran-Iraq war and the first Gulf war, ensured that tens of thousands of pieces were saved, they said. They now believe that the number of items taken was in the low thousands, and possibly hundreds.


Cpt John Durkin [centre] looks at recovered antiquities, with staff from the Iraqi National Museum
However, the stolen artefacts include 33 priceless pieces of world renown, which they fear will disappear for ever into private collections.

Donny George, research director, said: "There was a mistake. Someone asked us what is the number of pieces in the whole collection. We said over 170,000, and they took that as the number lost.

"Reporters came in and saw empty shelves and reached the conclusion that all was gone. But before the war we evacuated all of the small pieces and emptied the show cases except for fragile or heavy material that was difficult to move." Some pieces were hidden in the vaults of the central bank and others at secret locations, he added.

Thousands of manuscripts and scrolls were kept at a civilian bunker in north-west Baghdad and had been returned.

However, some of the blame for the confusion lies with the poor communication skills of museum officials, most of whom are less approachable than Mr George. Shortly after the looting they were in a highly defensive mood and gave away little about what appeared to be - and probably still is - one of the biggest art thefts ever.

At the time, accusations flew that valuable pieces were looted to order in an operation that required inside help.

American investigators from the immigration and customs enforcement department also did little to dispel the notion that the theft had been on a much larger scale.

"On the face of it, it looked like the place was ransacked. However, the museum storage plan had been put into action," said special supervisory agent Steve Mocsary. "As the investigation progressed we found out about the storage."

Mr George now admits that the looters knew what they were looking for. "I see it as a planned project involving parties abroad which included planning the removal of items out of the country," he said.

Prof McGuire Gibson, an oriental specialist from Chicago University and a member of the Unesco team that first said the losses might have been wildly exaggerated, said he had received reports that "top five" items out of the 33 had shifted to Teheran and Paris within days of their removal from the museum.

These may include the Sumerian period Vase of Warca, and the 4,500-year-old Basitki statue.

Mr George said that judging from the fate of pieces looted from regional museums after the first Gulf war, London was likely to play a key role as an evaluation centre for stolen items. He said buyers for those artefacts came mostly from Japan, America and Israel.

Only 40 out of 4,000 pieces snatched in 1991 have been recovered.