Journalists! I am shocked! Shocked!
Posted on 04/19/2003 6:41:07 AM PDT by knighthawk
AMMAN: Jordanian customs officials have seized 42 paintings believed to have been looted from Iraq's national museum, government officials said on Saturday.
The paintings were taken earlier in the week at al-Karameh border post from unidentified journalists entering Jordan from Iraq and were sent to the main Customs Department in Amman, said the officials, well-informed on the confiscated items. The paintings were being verified for authenticity but that preliminary checks led to them to believe the material had been looted from Iraq, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
They declined to provide other details. Officials at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, usually responsible for investigating such matters, were not immediately available for comment. Ad-Dustour, Jordan's second-largest daily newspaper, broke the news on Saturday in a short article quoting Mahmoud Qteishat, the director general of the Jordanian Customs Department.
Qteishat reportedly said after border customs discovered the paintings, he instructed his officers to "take all necessary measures to confiscate any stolen items from the Iraqi national museum and library" - which were targeted by looters following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime last week. Al-Karameh border post has been Iraq's lifeline since sweeping UN sanctions were imposed on Iraq in the wake of its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The desert outpost was used for shipments of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies to Iraq and for passengers embarking on a 12-hour overland trip to the Iraqi capital. Al-Karameh is 420 kilometres northeast of the Jordanian capital Amman.
Don't you know that they most likely FOUND these treasures on the road, close to the Jordanian border, and because the US has shown its complete indifference to protecting the national treausres, the journalists believed that Jordan would do a superior job of protecting and restoring these paintings than a US-controlled Iraq?
Sheesh....the journalists were only HELPING and DOING THE RIGHT THING! /sarcasm.
LOL. Journalists? HHHMMMMMMMMM?
Could this be a lesson in "how to create a bogus ANTI-US story, and profit from it?
Remember the slanted, semi-anti US movie with George Clowney..Three Kings. Isn't it interesting that our Marines find and protect some $300-400 million in US hundred dollar bills, Our US MARINES are also currently positioned outside a bank guarding some $1 billion in Iraqi gold.
and those scum bucket journalists STEAL Iraqi paintings. Sounds like a movie Hollyweird would NEVER want to make.
Jordan Seizes Iraqi Art Believed Stolen
Jordanian customs authorities have seized 42 paintings believed to have been looted from Iraq's National Museum, government officials said Saturday.
Border officials seized the paintings earlier this week from unidentified people entering Jordan from Iraq's western desert, officials familiar with the matter said, confirming a newspaper report. It wasn't clear what action had been taken against the alleged smugglers.
....According to the report, a group of journalists had tried to carry the paintings across the Karameh border post earlier this week, but they were discovered by officials and sent to the main customs department in Amman.
By JAMAL HALABY
The Associated Press
4/19/03 8:48 AM
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Jordanian customs authorities have seized 42 paintings believed to have been looted from Iraq's National Museum, government officials said Saturday.
Border officials seized the paintings earlier this week from unidentified people entering Jordan from Iraq's western desert, officials familiar with the matter said, confirming a newspaper report. It wasn't clear what action had been taken against the alleged smugglers.
Roll it up. Important to roll with the paint side out. Cracks will appear in the paint, but the cracks will tend to close when the painting is flattened again. If the painting is rolled paint side in, the paint will tend to be compressed and when the painting is unrolled again, cracks will appear, and they will be permanent.
....A border official at Al Karama confirmed to AFP that more than 40 "paintings" were seized from journalists entering Jordan from Iraq in the past few days [doesn't this mean more than one incident?] and sent to the central customs department in Amman
I would love to know if any of these journalists reported on the horrific looting and the terrible Americans not preventing same.
That's, very much, what I'm thinking.
Who knows, maybe it's why "CNN was running for their lives" ... maybe the Fayadeen were upset that CNN reporters were stealing the Iraqi paintings! : ) (just kidding, of course).
Journalists! I am shocked! Shocked!
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