Jordan to return nearly 2,500 artifacts looted from Iraq
Last Updated: Thursday, June 19, 2008 | 11:26 AM ET
CBC News
Jordan is the latest country set to return a large cache of looted artifacts to Iraq, announcing plans to turn over 2,466 artifacts to Iraqi officials this weekend.
Maha Khatib, Jordan's minister of tourism, made the announcement on Wednesday, saying the pieces would be transferred to her Iraqi counterpart, Mohammed Abbas Oreibi, on Sunday.
Oreibi is currently in Amman, the Jordanian capital, attending a meeting of the Arab Ministerial Tourism Council.
The pieces to be repatriated range from gold coins to jewelry to ancient manuscripts and were seized by Jordanian customs officials, Khatib told Jordan's Petra news agency.
Customs staff worked with the international policing agency Interpol to track down looted antiquities inside Jordan's borders. The objects were seized in 22 anti-smuggling operations, Khatib added.
Officials believe that tens of thousands of ancient artifacts were looted from sites across Iraq as well as from the Baghdad National Museum during the chaotic period during and immediately after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Earlier in June, U.S. customs officials returned a set of ancient agate and alabaster seals to Iraq after discovering them in Philadelphia in May, while Syria returned more than 700 pieces discovered by its authorities.
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