UNESCO President Calls for Establishment of Special Police Force to Protect Cultural Heritage in Iraq - 2003-04-17

The President of the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO has called for the establishment of a special police force to protect cultural heritage in Iraq, in order to recover historical and archaeological artifacts that were looted from Iraqi museums last week. Koichiro Matsuura, the director of UNESCO, made this request at an international experts' meeting today in Paris. At this meeting, urgent actions to recover valuable items stolen by looters following the fall of Baghdad were discussed. The special police force for cultural heritage will monitor cultural sites during armed conflicts such as the war in Iraq and prevent the looting and pillaging of rare and valuable objects. The National Museum of Iraq housed numerous ancient artifacts from Mesopotamia, which is considered the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization flourished between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq. One of the most valuable and important items in the National Museum of Iraq was a lyre that was considered a musical instrument from the ancient city of Ur. UNESCO has asked collectors and international police to help prevent the buying and selling of stolen items in the black market. It is expected that a delegation from UNESCO will soon travel to Baghdad to prepare an accurate list of stolen archaeological artifacts and the damages inflicted on Iraqi museums.