By Xinhua,
Amman : Jordan on Sunday delivered to Iraq nearly 2,500 artifacts which were recovered by Jordanian Customs after looted from Iraqi museums and archeological sites in the past years.
Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Maha Khatib presented these artifacts dating back 7,000 to 200 BC, according to head for Iraq’s antiquities and heritage office Amira Iidan, during a brief ceremony at the Jordanian Antiquities Department to Iraqi antiquities minister Mohammed al-Uraibi.
Al-Khatib said the hand-over showed the effective measures to prevent its borders being used as a conduit for smugglers.
According to al-Uraibi, some 15,000 antiquities have been looted all around Iraq since the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and many have turned up at art auctions around the globe including Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Iran and some Gulf states.
He said Iraq has planned to establish a special police unit to defend the country’s numerous archaeological sites and prevent any further theft of its rich cultural heritage.