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As I understand it the main thing 'looted' were the computer hard drives cataloging the museum's collection. That's something you would do to cover up the fact the artifacts had already been sold off. Which is probably why the museum was closed for many years.

"That's something you would do to cover up the fact the artifacts had already been sold off. Which is probably why the museum was closed for many years. "
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I think you are right. Ordinary Iraqis wouldn't dare steal and sell the artifacts, but I bet Saddam could and did.

Also I just did a search, and found general information about the Baghdad Museum, as part of description of Baghdad, on arab.net, and they mention that a number of pieces are reproductions -- obviously sufficient in number, that it was worth mentioning.

"Some of the objects on display here are reproductions, with their originals removed by conquering nations to be displayed in foreign museums. The Louvre in Paris, London's British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum in the US all contain antiquities from ancient Mesopotamia. Some pieces have been returned, but the effective closure of the country seems to preclude any further returns for the foreseeable future."

http://www.arab.net/iraq/iq_baghdadsights.htm

"That's something you would do to cover up the fact the artifacts had already been sold off. Which is probably why the museum was closed for many years. "

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I found an article which substantiates what you are saying:

Sensing the treasures could be in peril, museum curators secretly removed antiquities from their display cases before the war and placed them in storage vaults - but to no avail. The doors of the vaults were opened or smashed, and everything inside was taken, museum workers said.

That led one museum employee to suspect that people familiar with the museum may have participated in the theft.

``The fact that the vaults were opened suggests employees of the museum may have been involved,'' said the staffer, who declined to be identified. ``To ordinary people, these are just stones. Only the educated know the value of these pieces.''

http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6281650%255E25777,00.html