Baghdad Archeological Museum sacked

A Baghdad mob looted Iraq's largest archeological museum amid a breakdown in civil authority following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, an AFP reporter said.

A dozen looters helped themselves in ground floor rooms at the National Museum of Iraq, where pottery artefacts and statues were seen broken or overturned, while administrative offices were wrecked.

Two men were seen hauling an ancient portal out of the building, and empty wooden crates were scattered over the floor.

Upstairs rooms seemed to have been spared for the time being.

MORE grim details.

AND YET MORE in the Sunday NY Times.

Posted by David on April 11, 2003 7:52 PM