Dienstag, 06.12.2022 / 21:25 Uhr

Irak hat bislang 18.000 gestohlene Kunstgegenstände sicher gestellt

Von
Thomas von der Osten-Sacken

Museum in der Zitadelle von Arbil, Bild: Thomas v. der Osten-Sacken

Es war damals ein großes Thema, als nach dem Sturz Saddam Husseins die Museen in Bagdad geplündert wurden und unzählige Artefakte gestohlen worden. Aber auch der Islamische Staat leerte die Museen in in Mosul und anderen Städten und verkaufte die geraubte Kunst, um so seinen Jihad zu finanzieren. Viele Gegenstände sind inzwischen wieder aufgetaucht oder gesichert:

 Iraq has recovered over 18,000 smuggled artifacts that had been smuggled out of the country since 2003, the country’s foreign minister said on Sunday.

“Most of Iraq's civilizations were exposed to various threats, and terrorism had a hand in destroying civilizational monuments, but these terrorist acts cannot obliterate history,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said while attending the sixth Ancient Civilizations Forum in Baghdad.

The minister added that “the Iraqi government has made efforts to stop sabotage operations against antiquities, as more than 18,000 smuggled artifacts have been returned”.

Hussein further expressed his hope that through cooperation with other countries, Iraq would be able to recover the remaining stolen artifacts.

Iraqi antiquities have been subjected to frequent looting and vandalism since 2003, the most severe of which was in 2014 when the Islamic State (ISIS) occupied large swathes of the country.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in March inaugurated the Iraqi National Museum showcasing Iraqi artifacts recovered from the US, Netherlands, Japan, Italy, and Lebanon.