- It's low-tech and bloodless but it is a crime which is
slowly robbing humanity of the roots of its own existence.
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- Across southern Iraq, often in the dead of night, tomb
raiders and temple thieves are systematically looting ancient treasures
that have lain undiscovered for thousands of years.
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- Using spades and working by the light of makeshift petrol
lamps, armed gangs are digging into the shifting sands at the edges of
the Euphrates river plain to spirit away priceless artefacts buried with
the Sumerian dynasties 5,000 years ago.
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- Before archaeologists can properly identify and excavate
the sites, scattered across the river valley south of Babylon, the looters
have already torn apart ancient temples, palaces and tombs that hold clues
to the foundations of civilisation.
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- And since archaeologists don't know precisely what was
there, no one will likely ever know what's missing, meaning robbers are
stealing history even before it's been discovered.
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- "It is a crime, it is a crime against humanity,"
said Abdul Amir Hamdani, director of antiquities for Iraq's Dhi Qar province,
as he inspected fresh looting at Dubrum, an ancient Sumerian settlement
near the village of Dhahir.
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- "We are losing our heritage, we are losing pieces
of our civilisation," he said, picking up the remains of a clay pot
dating from around 1,800 BC, discarded by looters as they fled the site
probably because it was deemed of too little value.
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- The looting, which began more than a decade ago, has
picked up sharply in the past year amid the chaos that has sprung up since
the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein. And as it has grown more pervasive,
so it has become more organised and ingenious.
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- Investigators describe a chain starting with looters
who steal to order, deliver artefacts to local merchants, who smuggle them
out of Iraq to dealers connected to wealthy collectors in the Middle East,
Asia, Europe and the United States.
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- The most sought-after items include cuneiform tablets
-- symbol-rich clay palettes that contain the origins of writing -- cylinder
seals, which were used to identify or mark ancient documents, intricate
figurines and items of bronze jewellery.
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- Hamdani says looters -- generally penniless villagers
familiar with the locations of the sites -- get as little as $13 for a
whole cuneiform tablet.
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- "It will be sold on for tens of thousands of dollars,
but really it is priceless," he said, shaking his head at the damage
inflicted on Dubrum.
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- Italian protection
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- In the year since US-led forces invaded Iraq, the focus
of attention has been on battling a determined guerrilla insurgency and
restoring security. But bit by bit, attention is also being paid to stopping
desecrations like archaeological looting.
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- Italy, one of the closest US allies in Iraq and a country
with a history of fighting organised crime, has sent units of its Carabinieri
paramilitary force to lead the battle to protect sites in a large swath
of southern Iraq.
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- With several hundred sites to monitor in Dhi Qar alone
the task appears far beyond the capacity of a force that numbers in the
hundreds.
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- Instead, the Carabinieri have concentrated on securing
the most important areas and are trying to patrol as many others as possible.
At the same time, they are training Iraqis to protect major sites and collect
information on looting habits.
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- Often it is a cat-and-mouse game, with robbers growing
familiar with the Carabinieri's techniques and sometimes getting warning
of their approach -- not difficult when they arrive across miles of open
desert in convoys of armoured cars.
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- Only by using helicopters in flash raids and with an
element of surprise have they managed to catch thieves red-handed.
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- Increasingly looters work at night. Sometimes they raid
sites just beyond the Italians' strictly defined area of
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- responsibility, betting they won't stray out of the zone.
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- In the eight months since the Italian specialised unit
began its operations, only 47 robbers have been caught, although precious
objects have also been rescued.
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- "There are more than 700 sites and there are a million
potential looters," Hamdani said. "Whatever we do is not enough."
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- Rape of humanity
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- A year ago, in the immediate aftermath of Saddam's overthrow,
the National Museum in Baghdad was the focus of archaeologists' concerns.
Gangs of looters broke into the museum and stole hundreds of priceless
artefacts -- ancient statues, low-relief carvings, Akkadian jewellery and
Sumerian cylinder seals.
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- Many of the most important pieces, including the fabled
treasures of Nimrud, have been recovered or were found stashed safely in
the vault of Iraq's central bank.
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- Since most of the museum pieces were catalogued, it has
even been possible to track down many of those that were spirited abroad.
Court cases are pending in the United States and Switzerland to recover
several that are still missing.
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- But the same process cannot be used with ancient treasures
that no one yet knows ever existed. For archaeologists and art historians
it is an unfathomable loss excruciating to bear.
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- "To lose those objects is to lose the source of
our identity, it's like losing the mother of civilisation," said Mario
Bondioli-Osio, senior adviser to the Iraq's Ministry of Culture and formerly
the president of Italy's commission for the recovery of stolen art.
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- Bondioli-Osio has been frustrated by the lack of attention
paid to the problem with the US-led coalition having to focus instead on
combating the year-long insurgency.
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- With more funding and training, he says, a stop could
be put to the thieving. Iraqis need to be taught how to police ancient
sites, they need weapons and communications equipment. A recent tightening
of Iraq's borders was a positive step, he said.
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- Just a week ago, Jordan announced it had seized some
700 pieces smuggled out of Iraq and would return them.
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- For archaeologists, Iraq, often referred to as the cradle
of civilisation, offers the richest possible vein for discovery.
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- Some say the world's archaeology books could be rewritten
after just a few years of excavation in the country.
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- That will be impossible if the looting continues.
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- "We risk losing our understanding of how civilisation
came into being," said Bondioli-Osio, his face tense with concern
as he showed visitors around Baghdad's shuttered national museum.
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- © Reuters http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,265638-1-9,00.html
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