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Boxes containing recovered looted artifacts beryllium temporarily astatine the overseas ministry earlier being transferred to the Iraq Museum, successful Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Over 17,000 looted past artefacts recovered from the United States and different countries were handed implicit to Iraq's Culture Ministry connected Tuesday, a restitution described by the authorities arsenic the largest successful the country's history. The bulk of the artefacts day backmost 4,000 years to past Mesopotamia and were recovered from the U.S. successful a caller travel by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhim. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD – Over 17,000 looted past artifacts recovered from the United States and different countries were handed implicit to Iraq's Culture Ministry connected Tuesday, a restitution described by the authorities arsenic the largest successful the country's history.

The bulk of the artifacts day backmost 4,000 years to past Mesopotamia and were recovered from the U.S. successful a caller travel by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Other pieces were besides returned from Japan, Netherlands and Italy, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said successful a associated property league with Culture Minister Hasan Nadhim.

Nadhim said the betterment was “the largest successful the past of Iraq" and the merchandise of months of effort betwixt the authorities and Iraq's Embassy successful Washington.

“There’s inactive a batch of enactment up successful this matter. There are inactive thousands of Iraqi artifacts smuggled extracurricular the country," helium said. “The United Nations resolutions are supporting america successful the planetary assemblage and the laws of different countries successful which these artifacts are smuggled to are connected our side."

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"The smugglers are being trapped time aft time by these laws and forced to manus implicit these artifacts,” helium added.

The artifacts were handed implicit to the Culture Ministry successful ample woody crates. A fewer were displayed but the ministry said the astir important pieces volition beryllium examined and aboriginal displayed to the nationalist successful Iraq's National Museum.

Iraq’s antiquities person been looted passim decades of warfare and instability since the 2003 U.S.-led penetration that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq's authorities has been dilatory recovering the plundered antiquities since. However, archaeological sites crossed the state proceed to beryllium neglected owing to deficiency of funds.

At slightest 5 shipments of antiquities and documents person been returned to Iraq's depository since 2016, according to the Foreign Ministry.

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