Posted on 04/24/2009 6:39:45 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Ministry of Defense held a ceremony to commemorate the recovery of 235 artifacts by Iraqi Army commandos from smugglers and the subsequent handover of the items to the Iraqi Tourism and Antiquities Ministry on April 16.
Iraqi Minister of Defense Abd Al-Qadir said, “The Iraqi Army is putting extraordinary pressure on smuggling gangs, which steal Iraq’s history to finance terrorist operations.”
“The recovery of the artifacts was a joyous occasion because they could not be replaced with money and represented 5,000 years of Iraqi history," The Minister added.
Citizens in Abu El-Kahsib, Bab El-Tawael and El-Amir informed a commando battalion from the 14th Iraqi Army Division in Basra about a smuggling gang on December 16, 2008.
This information enabled the battalion to capture the gang of seven who were preparing to smuggle Babylonian and Sumerian artifacts outside Iraq. The recovered objects included, among others, gold jewelry, ceramics and stone figurines.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.