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WASHINGTON, Jul 25, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. officials in Washington presented Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Tuesday with one of the most important antiquities looted from that country.
The headless statue of Entemena of Lagash, who ruled in Sumer more than 4,000 years ago, was one of 15,000 objects taken from the National Museum in the chaos after the fall of Baghdad, The New York Times said. Many of the items have been recovered, including some that had been smuggled out of the country.
U.S. officials are not willing to discuss how they tracked down the Entemena statue, the Times reported. Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the statue had been stored in a warehouse for several weeks until a suitable opportunity for presentating it to Iraqi officials.
The statue was smuggled into Syria, the Times said, and then became part of the international trade in antiquities.
"I'm overwhelmingly happy," said Iraqi Antiquities Minister Liwa Sumaysim. "We hope we get it soon so it goes back in the Iraqi museum, where it belongs."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
