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The princesses, fifth and sixth in line to the throne, will be given protection only when they attend official events on behalf of the Royal Family.
Safe: The Princesses are driven away from Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding reception by a protection officer
Prince Andrew had fought ferociously for the protection officers to stay. He argued his daughters should be treated differently from other minor royals because they enjoy HRH status.
But his argument failed because their cousin Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, has no protection – even though she has a higher public profile.
Furious: Prince Andrew is said to have fought to keep the protection officers as he feels they are different to other minor Royals because of their HRH status
The cost of guarding Eugenie, 21, in her first year at Newcastle University has been estimated at £250,000 a year. It includes salaries, accommodation and living and travel expenses of two full-time bodyguards.
Beatrice, 22, studying at the University of London, enjoys the same level of protection.
Prince Andrew insisted his daughters have full-time protection despite private police assessments that they were low-risk targets.
No protection: The Duchess of Gloucester will no longer have security unless on official business, while Zara Philips has no cover despite her high profile
The Home Office is determined to prune the estimated £50million security bill for the Royal Family.
Other minor royals such as the Duchess of Gloucester who, unlike princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, performs official engagements, will also have their protection withdrawn when not on official duty.
source: dailymail

VIA Beatrice and Eugenie are stripped of their 24-hour protection after row over £50,000 annual cost

In addition to incidents of damage, the residents of the areas with archaeological sites are regularly digging up the pharaohs’ graves, stealing and smuggling their belongings. This has become more common since the January 25 Revolution, when the security situation in the country deteriorated.

The latest incident, the damage of Tutankhamun’s mask, took place in August 2014 and is still causing controversy, since Tutankhamun was one of the most famous pharaohs. He became king around 1334 B.C. when he was 9 years old. His tomb, which was discovered in 1922, is of great importance to Egyptology, since the treasures inside the tomb were intact and the famous golden mask accompanied Tutankhamun's mummified remains. The discovery of his tomb contributed significantly in finding out how a royal tomb was prepared for a king’s afterlife.

Monica Hanna, an Egyptian archaeologist, told Al-Monitor that this was not the first time the officials responsible for ancient monuments acted with negligence. In 2006, the southern facade of the Saqqara pyramid was damaged and in 2007, damage was done to the city of Rosetta, which is also considered an important archaeological landmark, as well as to Al-Jayyousi Mosque.

Hanna considers these failures in properly dealing with the Egyptian artifacts and monuments during their restoration the result of 30 years of corruption.

“A crisis unit for monuments and artifacts must be formed. It should be supported by the army and police to confront secret prospecting at monuments as well as terrorist acts. This is resulting in the loss of incomparable treasures, similar to what happened in the Museum of Malawi, Museum of Islamic Arts and El-Arish [National Museum],” she said.

These museums witnessed acts of vandalism and looting. The Museum of Malawi was vandalized and 1,040 artifacts were stolen in August 2013. This happened at the same time as the violence that engulfed Egypt after supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were dispersed at the Rabia al-Adawiya sit-in. On Jan. 24, 2014, the Museum of Islamic Arts, which was founded in 1903 and included Islamic art in its different stages throughout history, was destroyed in a terrorist explosion in front of the Cairo Security Directorate.

El-Arish National Museum also suffered damage following terrorist operations targeting the Egyptian army and police forces in North Sinai on Jan. 29.

What is both surprising and ironic is that there are 14,000 security guards to protect the Egyptian artifacts, but they are not actually trained to preserve the monuments that are being stolen on a daily basis, according to Hanna. The discussion of the damage to Tutankhamun’s mask did not end, despite the decision by the minister of antiquities to investigate the concerned officials. The situation escalated and resulted in public outrage expressed after experts at the Ministry of Antiquities announced they doubted the mask was the original piece, claiming it was a fake. Subsequently, the Egyptian government consulted German conservation expert Christiaan Eijkman to examine the mask and confirm it was the original piece.

Although the Federation of Egyptian Archaeologists described the damage to the mask as severe, the head of the federation, Abdul Halim Noureddine, told Al-Monitor that the mask — which is still on display in the Egyptian Museum — was not a fake but it was not handled in a way befitting its value. “Epoxy, the material that was used to fix the mask’s chin, is not recommended for restoration,” he said.

Noureddine attributed the repeated mistakes in restoring pharaonic monuments to two main factors. “Sometimes they are the result of the incompetency of the person involved in the restoration and sometimes they are the result of the ongoing conflicts within the monuments commission,” he said.

To hear the position of officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities regarding the repeated mistakes during the restoration of valuable Egyptian monuments, Al-Monitor spoke to the chairman of the central administration for maintenance and restoration, Gharib Sunbul. He said that indeed an error occurred during the restoration of Tutankhamun’s mask.

He said that the restoration expert who used epoxy had succeeded in restoring 90% of the piece, while the remaining 10% showed serious flaws due to the excessive use of this material on the mask, which is made of pure gold. For the mask to be put on display again quickly, the restoration had been done in haste, which resulted in the complete distortion of the archaeological piece.

The government official denied accusations regarding the restoration work of the Saqqara pyramid, “The only mistake there was that the person involved in the restoration did not preserve the randomness in which the ancient Egyptians placed the rocks, and we are working on fixing this,” he said.

Sunbul admitted that a significant issue occurred during the restoration of the city of Rosetta, but that was when the Egyptian monuments commission was affiliated with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, before the January 25 Revolution.

Perhaps the fact that an Egyptian government official admits the negligence in previous restoration work of Egyptian archaeological sites is proof that there is a real crisis in preserving the pharaonic heritage. However, at the same time it could be a promising start to handle such crises and find suitable solutions.

Author: Walaa Hussein | Source: Al-Monitor [February 05, 2015]

“The museum has been closed for public since July 2013 and thus its showcases are empty. The masterpieces were transported to the antiquities ministry’s central storehouses at the start of the militant attacks in July 2013 while the other artifacts in the museum are safe in the basement of the building,” Sharaf was quoted by Youm7 Sunday.

The attack, which included mortar fire and a car bomb, has caused severe damage to the main entrance gate and the façade; one of the side buildings and several ceilings have collapsed and glass doors and windows have shattered, said Sharaf.

“The Antiquities Ministry has dispatched a technical committee to check the damage caused to the building and submit a recommendation report to save the artifacts,” he added.

The Arish National Museum was inaugurated by Egypt’s former first lady Suzanne Mubarak. It houses over 1,200 artifacts, discovered in the Sinai Peninsula and spanning all the eras of Egypt’s 5,000 year-old civilization.

Hisham Hussein, the head of the Sinai archaeological area, called on the Antiquities Ministry to transport all the artifacts in the museum’s basement to a safer place given that the museum is located next to the Al-Arish security directorate, a central point for militant attacks.

“I have previously called for the transfer of the artifacts at the museum following the October suicide blast, which targeted a security checkpoint in Sheikh Zuwayed and killed 30 military personnel,” said Hussein.

At least 161 artifacts of the Islamic Museum in Cairo were either totally destroyed or seriously damaged following a blast that mainly targeted the adjacent Cairo Security Directorate on Jan. 24, 2014.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [February 01, 2015]

In an interview with The Associated Press, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova described her angry reaction to Thursday's attack that came just a week after video showed Islamic State militants with sledgehammers destroying ancient artifacts at a museum in Mosul.

"We call this cultural cleansing because unfortunately, we see an acceleration of this destruction of heritage as deliberate warfare," Bokova said. She said the attack fit into a larger "appalling vision" of persecution of minorities in the region and declared that attacks on culture are now a security concern.

"It's not a luxury anymore," Bokova said.

Later Friday, the spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general said Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks and said the deliberate destruction "constitutes a war crime and represents an attack on humanity as a whole."

The Iraqi government says Islamic State militants "bulldozed" the renowned archaeological site of the ancient city in northern Iraq with heavy military vehicles on Thursday.

Bokova said U.N. officials have to rely on satellite images of the destroyed city to assess the level of damage, because the dangerous security situation makes it impossible to get people close to the site.

But she said officials have seen images of some of the large statues from the site "put on big trucks and we don't know where they are, possibly for illicit trafficking."

Officials have seen photos of destroyed symbols of the ancient kingdom of Assyria, with the head of a human man and the body of a lion or eagle. She called them and other items at the site priceless.

"The symbolism of this, they are in some of the sacred texts even, in the Bible they are mentioned," she said. "All of this is an appalling and tragic act of human destruction."

She said that before the attack, UNESCO had been preparing to include Nimrud on its list of World Heritage Sites. The city was the second capital of Assyria, a kingdom that began around 900 B.C. and became a great regional power. The discovery of treasures in the city's royal tombs in the 1980s is considered one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds.

The site lies just south of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, which was captured by the Islamic State group in June.

Bokova denounced the "cultural chaos" and said she had alerted both Ban and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

She was meeting with Ban later Friday and said she was sure of his support.

Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohamed Alhakim, said Iraq had not yet formally asked for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. He did not say what exactly Iraq wanted from the council but warned of the looted treasures.

"Somebody is going to buy these," he said.

Bokova said she also plans to meet with Interpol, major museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, major auction houses and Iraq's neighbors in an attempt to stop the illicit trafficking of items from the Nimrud site.

Bokova appealed in a statement Friday to people around the world, especially young people, to protect "the heritage of the whole of humanity."

"I don't see any justification, any religious belief, any other kind of ambition, political or others, that justify this kind of destruction," she said.

Author: Cara Anna | Source: The Associated Press [March 06, 2015]

Egypt's Minister of Antiquities, Mamdouh Eldamaty, is to cut the ribbon to open a new tourist destination in the town. He told Ahram Online that the restoration of the Sphinx Avenue and installing new lightening and security systems in Luxor temple came within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to protect the country’s ancient shrine.

Eldamaty explained that the development of Luxor’s temple lighting and security systems is a part of a Spanish grant of 150 million euros used for the implementation of a scheme to protect every archaeological site in Theban so they can be visited at night and be well-protected.

He went on to say that the new lighting system is made according to the latest technology which guarantees the preservation of the temple walls and engravings.

For his part Major General Mohamed Al-Sheikha, head of the Projects Department at the ministry of antiquities, said that the security system installed in the temple includes of an electronic curtain stretched around the temple, along with monitoring cameras connected to a TV circuit.

He told Ahram Online that the restoration of the first and fifth sections of the Sphinxes Avenue represents 37 per cent of the whole path.  It was carried out in collaboration with the National Service Projects with a budget of LE66.5 million.

He went on to say that the restoration work of the first section, which stretches from the Luxor temple to 350 metres long, includes the removal of all encroachment as well as the consolidation of the avenue’s eastern wall and the restoration of the sphinxes themselves. The restoration of the 600-metre-long fifth section extends from the area behind Luxor Library to the town’s airport road.

Al-Sheikha pointed out that restoration is continuing on the other sections of the avenue in order to open more sections soon.

The Sphinxes Avenue was the site of ceremonial processions that once connected both Luxor and Karnak temples. It is dated to around 380 BCE and stretches some 2.7 kilometers. It would have originally had 1,350 sphinxes lining both sides. Around half of those have been uncovered, with many reworked by later civilizations or sitting in museums. Much of the avenue is still covered by modern buildings.

Author: Nevine El-Aref | Source: Ahram Online [March 22, 2015]

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An estimated 5.5 million tons of copper, one of the biggest deposits in the world, could provide a major export for a war-ravaged country desperately in need of jobs and cash. But the hoped-for bonanza also could endanger rare artifacts that survived the rule of the Taliban and offer a window into Afghanistan's rich pre-Islamic history.

"The copper mine and its extraction are very important. But more important is our national culture," said Abdul Qadir Timor, director of archaeology at Afghanistan's Culture Ministry. "Copper is a temporary source of income. Afghanistan might benefit for five or six years after mining begins, and then the resource comes to an end."

The government is determined to develop Afghanistan's estimated $3 trillion worth of minerals and petroleum, an untapped source of revenue that could transform the country. The withdrawal of U.S.-led combat forces at the end of 2014 and a parallel drop in foreign aid have left the government strapped for cash. It hopes to attract global firms to exploit oil, natural gas and minerals, ranging from gold and silver to the blue lapis lazuli for which the country has been known since ancient times.

Beijing's state-run China Metallurgical Group struck a $3 billion deal in 2008 to develop a mining town at Mes Aynak with power generators, road and rail links, and smelting facilities. Workers built a residential compound, but were pulled out two years ago because of security concerns. Nazifullah Salarzai, a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, said the government is determined to finish that project.

Archaeologists are scrambling to uncover a trove of artifacts at the site dating back nearly 2,000 years which shed light on a Buddhist civilization that stretched across India and China, reaching all the way to Japan.

"The more we look, the more we find," archaeologist Aziz Wafa said as he scanned hilltops pock-marked with bowl-shaped hollows where copper powder once was melted down and painted onto ceramics. Excavators have found silver platters, gold jewelry and a human skeleton as they have uncovered the contours of a long-lost town that once hosted elaborate homes, monasteries, workshops and smelters.

Behind Wafa is a cave in which three Buddhas are seated around a dome-shaped shrine known as a stupa. Two are headless; one was decapitated by looters who entered through a tunnel. The other head was removed by archaeologists and placed in storage along with thousands of other items.

Movable objects, including sculptures, coins and ceramics, are stored at the National Museum in Kabul. Larger objects, including stupas measuring eight meters (26 feet) across and statues of robed monks 7 meters (23 feet) tall remain at the sprawling site, which is closed off and protected by a special security force. The roads are lined with armed guards and the archaeologists have no telephone or Internet access.

Experts believe that proselytizing Buddhist monks from India settled here in the 2nd Century A.D. Like today's miners, they were enticed by the copper, which they fashioned into jewelry and other products to trade on the Silk Road linking China to Europe.

The site was discovered in 1942 and first explored in 1963, but the excavations ground to a halt for two decades during the Soviet invasion, the civil war and the brutal rule of the Taliban in the late 1990s. Osama bin Laden ran a training camp at Mes Aynak in the years leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent U.S.-led invasion.

Until the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan were dynamited by the Taliban in 2001, few knew that Afghanistan was once a wealthy, powerful Buddhist empire. It still does not feature on the local education curriculum, which ignores the country's pre-Islamic past. But at Mes Aynak the eroded remains of enormous feet testify to the colossal Buddhas that once towered over the valley.

Low world copper prices and a slowing Chinese economy have bought time for the archaeologists to uncover more artifacts, while the government seeks to find a way to unearth the copper without ruining relics.

The government has asked the U.N. cultural agency to survey mining sites and draw up plans to protect and preserve cultural heritage, said Masanori Nagaoka, UNESCO's head of cultural affairs in Afghanistan.

The request is rooted in hope for better days, when tourists might replace the tense guards scanning the valley.

The archaeological value of the site "will outlast the life cycle of the Aynak mine," an anti-corruption group called Integrity Watch Afghanistan said in a report. "The relics found could be a perpetual tourist attraction and would provide a new symbol of the historical foundation of the region and people."

Author: Lynne O'Donnell | Source: Associated Press [February 06, 2015]

Adel Shirshab, the country's tourism and antiquities minister, told The Associated Press there are concerns the militants will remove artifacts and damage the site, located 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Mosul. Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdish official from Mosul, told the AP that the militants had already begun demolishing the Khorsabad site on Sunday, citing multiple witnesses.

On Friday, the group razed 3,000-year old Nimrud and on Saturday, they bulldozed 2,000-year old Hatra — both UNESCO world heritage sites. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called the destruction a "war crime," and a statement by his spokesman on Sunday night said Ban was "outraged by the continuing destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq" by theIslamic State group.

Khorsabad was constructed as a new capital of Assyria by King Sargon II shortly after he came to power in 721 B.C. and abandoned after his death in 705 B.C. It features a 24-meter thick wall with a stone foundation and seven gates.

Since it was a single-era capital, few objects linked to Sargon II himself were found. However, the site is renowned for shedding light on Assyrian art and architecture.

The sculptured stone slabs that once lined the palace walls are now displayed in museums in Baghdad, Paris, London and Chicago.

The Islamic State group currently controls about a third of Iraq and Syria. The Sunni extremist group has been campaigning to purge ancient relics they say promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. A video released last week shows them smashing artifacts in the Mosul museum and in January, the group burned hundreds of books from the Mosul library and Mosul University, including many rare manuscripts.

At a press conference earlier Sunday, Shirshab said they have called for an extraordinary session of the U.N. Security Council to address the crisis in Iraq.

"The world should bear the responsibility and put an end to the atrocities of the militants, otherwise I think the terrorist groups will continue with their violent acts," he said.

Author: Sameer N. Yacoub | Source: Associated Press [March 09, 2015]

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In October, a Canadian woman made headlines around the world when she personally returned to hand back a 2,000-year old fragment she had stolen from Pompeii on her honeymoon 50 years ago.

The woman from Montreal, who is in her 70s, said the theft of the first century AD terracotta roof decoration had weighed on her conscience for decades.

Now Massimo Osanna, superintendent of the World Heritage-listed site, said that was not an isolated case and hundreds of archeological artefacts had been sent back to the museum in recent years, often with letters of apology written in different languages.

"We have been receiving hundreds of packages with hundreds of fragments now for years," Mr Osanna told the Italian daily, Il Messaggero.

"People write expressing regret, having realised they have made a terrible mistake and that they would never do it again and for this reason they are sending the stolen pieces back.

"But the most curious thing, from an anthropological point of view, are the letters that accompany the stolen fragments which reveal a cross-section of people worth studying."

Mr Osanna said that one particular fresco fragment that had been returned was crucial in the restoration of the Casa del Frutteto, or house of the orchard keeper, which collapsed in the 1980s.

He said the property was restored but after work was completed experts realised a piece of wall plaster was missing. He said it was returned to officials in March and would now be added.

Mr Osanna could not be contacted on Tuesday but said he would like to stage an exhibition to showcase the precious objects that had been returned.

Alessandro Pintucci, president of the Italian Confederation of Archeologists, welcomed the return of artefacts but warned more security was needed to protect valuable cultural sites and to prevent thefts where there were often too few controls.

Pompeii was buried by a sudden volcanic eruption of nearby Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. The preserved remains of the town attract around 2.5 million tourists every year.

Theft is a problem at ancient sites like Pompeii and the Colosseum in Rome, with tourists regularly trying to take "souvenirs" of their visits.

Last September a pair of American tourists were caught at Fiumicino airport in Rome with a stone artefact they had taken from Pompeii.

Author: Josephine McKenna | Source: Telegraph [December 24, 2014]

The recent illegal construction of a residential building, which has partially blocked the view of Giza Pyramid “is a blatant encroachment of Egypt’s building laws which restrict urban housing in a five km radius from the Giza plateau,” Coordinator of the Popular Front to Defend Antiquities Osama Karar told Youm7 Saturday.

“If encroachments of building residential units in the area continue at the same rate witnessed since the January 25 Revolution, the Giza Pyramids won’t be seen from more than 30-meters away,” said Karar in response to photos published in Youm7 Friday.

The photos show an under-construction residential building located in Abu el-Houl street, walking distance from the foot of the Sphinx. The photos also show mobile network towers installed on rooftops, within the perimeter of the area where construction is restricted.

“Several residential buildings, with ranging from 5 to 11 stories tall, are being built in streets located less than 200 meters from the Giza Pyramids area. It is a blatant encroachment,” he added.

The Giza Plateau is part of a zone of 50 square kilometers that is protected by UNESCO, which stretches to the funerary complex at Saqqara, further south.

“The ancient ruins of the Memphis area , including the Pyramids of Giza , Saqqara , Dahshur , Abu Ruwaysh , and Abu Sir, were collectively designated a World Heritage site in 1979,” archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban told The Cairo Post Saturday.

Following the 2011 revolution and the lack of proper security, private construction companies demolished some of the area’s old villas and 4-story residential buildings and replaced them with tall, residential buildings that encroach on the neighborhood’s small alleyways.

Karar says that bureaucracy, a lax approach from the government in implementing building code along with corruption issues are common in Egypt’s official bodies issuing building permits, and represent a threat to Egypt’s cultural heritage.

“The Ministry of Antiquities seems unwilling to admit failure, but the Egyptian government should take action to ensure that archaeological sites do not end up in a disaster,” he said.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [April 12, 2015]

The reopening was brought forward in what officials said was a response to the destruction of priceless artefacts by Islamic State group jihadists in the northern city of Mosul.

"We have been preparing to reopen for the past couple of months, the museum should be open to everyone," Qais Hussein Rashid, the deputy tourism and antiquities minister, told AFP.

"The events in Mosul led us to speed up our work and we wanted to open it today as a response to what the gangs of Daesh did," he said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

On Thursday, the jihadists who have occupied the second city of Mosul since June last year released a video in which militants smash ancient statues with sledgehammers in the city's museum.

Militants are also seen using a jackhammer to deface a colossal 40-tonne Assyrian winged bull in an archaeological park in Mosul.

The destruction sparked global outrage, calls for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and fears over the fate of other major heritage sites in areas under IS control.

The Mosul destruction was the worst disaster to strike Iraq's treasures since the national museum in Baghdad was looted in the chaos that followed the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

The pictures of jihadists gleefully hacking away at treasures dating back several centuries before Christ drew comparisons with the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of the Bamiyan buddhas in Afghanistan.

Hunt continues

One jihadist speaking to the camera claims they are destroying them on religious grounds because the statues are symbols of idolatry.

But officials and experts argue the IS militants are seen destroying the pieces that are too bulky to be smuggled and sold to finance their self-proclaimed "caliphate".

The 2003 plundering of the Baghdad museum, footage of which was beamed around the world at the time, has been compared to the 13th century Mongol sack of the city's library.

The museum was considered to host one of the world's greatest archeological collections.

Officials said Saturday that about 15,000 pieces were looted in 2003, of which 4,300 have been recovered.

"We are still tracking down more than 10,000 artefacts in markets and auctions. What we got back were the most important," Rashid said.

After cutting a red ribbon at an official ceremony, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said: "Today the message is clear from Baghdad, from the land of Mesopotamia.

"We will preserve civilisation and we will track down those who want to destroy it," he said.

'Happy day'

The Mosul museum, which UNESCO museology expert Stuart Gibson described as "a small jewel" constructed on the gardens of the former palace of King Faisal of Iraq, was also pillaged in 2003.

Archaeologists have expressed fears the jihadists would go on to destroy more heritage in the areas they control, possibly the Assyrian site of Nimrud and the UNESCO-listed ancient city of Hatra.

Abadi warned traffickers and buyers that Iraq and its partners would not relent in the hunt for looted artefacts.

"We have details on every artefact in Mosul, every piece is marked, and we will track down all the pieces smuggled by Daesh and the terrorist groups. We will track them down and all the world is with us."

Rashid said the reopening would help heal the wounds of the Mosul looting.

"We don't want February 26 to be a day of sadness and gloom... reopening the museum sends a message at home and abroad that it should be restored as a touristic and cultural institution," he said.

The museum is due to reopen to the public on Sunday. Tickets will cost 1,500 dinars (just over a dollar) for Iraqis, 10 US dollars for foreign Arabs and 20 for other foreigners.

"This is a very happy day," said Rashid.

"For the first time there's a whole generation of Iraqis who never knew what the national museum was. Starting tomorrow, kids and families will visit the museum to see the artefacts and touch them."

Author: Karim Abou Merhi | Source: AFP [February 28, 2015]

The move follows investigations led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York, Baltimore, Austin, Texas, and New Haven, Connecticut, the department said in a statement.

One of the most significant items that was returned is a limestone statue depicting the head of the Assyrian King Sargon II, an eighth century B.C. ruler.

Immigration and Customs agents seized the looted artifact in August 2008 after an antiquities dealer based in Dubai shipped it to New York. The investigation led to the identification of an international network dealing in illicit cultural artifacts, the statement said.

Other artifacts repatriated to Iraq include gold-plated items, such as a soap dish, looted from the private airport and palace of executed former President Saddam Hussein.

Bronze objects, including a Luristan ax from early Sumeria, and clay reliefs and glass objects were also returned.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit has returned more than 1,200 items to Iraq in four repatriations since 2008, the statement said.

Source: Reuters [March 16, 2015]

“A sort of ‘blue helmets of culture’ are needed, as there are blue helmets that intervene to protect in situations of war,” said Dario Franceschini told the Guardian, referring to the signature uniforms of UN peacekeeping troops.

“There should be an international rapid response force to defend monuments and archaeological sites in conflict zones,” he said.

Franceschini was speaking following the partial destruction of Iraq’s Hatra, an ancient fortress city that the Roman empire repeatedly failed to conquer. Local residents on 7 March reported hearing a large explosion, as Isis militants went on a destructive rampage through the city.

Such attacks were described by Unesco as “a turning point in the appalling strategy of cultural cleansing underway in Iraq,” coming just two days after the Islamist groups bulldozed their way through the 13th-century BC city of Nimrud.

Isis militants have also decimated collections at Mosul museum, which housed artefacts dating back 3,000 years, and set about razing the ancient city walls of nearby Dur-Sharrukin.

As the extremists continue their wanton destruction of Iraq’s prized heritage, Italy’s culture minister urged the international community to wake up to a new form of warfare.

“At one time great monuments were hit accidentally in wars, during bombing. Now they’re hit precisely because they are symbols of culture, symbols of a religion,” he said. Building a force specifically to protect heritage in crisis situations could not be left to an individual state, Franceschini said, and must be initiated by the international community.

The UN security council agreed measures last month to combat the trafficking of antiquities plundered from Iraq and Syria, but safeguarding culture has yet to be written into the mandate of peacekeeping operations.

As historians mourn the loss of Iraq’s cultural heritage, fears have been raised that the same destruction could be wrought on Libya. Amid growing instability, Isis has been gaining ground in Libya, where five sites have been awarded Unesco world heritage status.

Author: Rosie Scammell | Source: The Guardian [March 20, 2015]

"I condemn this mad, destructive act that accentuates the horror of the situation," UNESCO head Irina Bokova said in a statement.

The Islamic State group on Saturday circulated an undated video showing militants equipped with sledgehammers and power tools breaking artefacts before rigging the site with large barrels of powder.

The subsequent footage shows a massive explosion and its aftermath, suggesting the ruins of Nimrud-- which lie on the Tigris about 30 kilometres (18 miles) southeast of IS-held Mosul -- were largely levelled.

Nimrud, founded in the 13th century BC, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in a country often described as the cradle of civilisation.

"With their hammers and explosives they are also obliterating the site itself, clearly determined to wipe out all traces of the history of Iraq’s people," Bokova said.

Iraqi government reports of Nimrud's destruction emerged in early March, when the UNESCO chief branded the IS's violence against the ancient the site as a "war crime".

Bokova repeated the charge on Monday, after the full extent of the crime became known.

"We will do everything possible to fight against this and document it, to ensure that those responsible are identified and brought to justice," she said.

Nimrud was on UNESCO's tentative list of world heritage sites.

Most of the city's priceless artefacts were moved long ago to museums but giant "lamassu" statues -- winged bulls with human heads -- and reliefs were still on site.

The IS tries to justify the destruction of antiquities by saying they are idolatrous, but experts say the group traffics in them to fund its self-proclaimed "caliphate" and destroys only those pieces that are too bulky to be smuggled.

The UN Security Council in February adopted a resolution aimed at choking off financing for IS from antiquities trafficking as well as oil smuggling and ransom payments.

A ban on looted antiquities in Iraq was already in force, and was expanded to Syria under the resolution.

Source: AFP [April 13, 2015]

The artifacts, which had been shown in a mass exhibition in Berlin, may stay in Germany for some repairs in cooperation with the Egyptian Museum in Berlin before their return to Egypt, Hegazy said.

The Egyptian Embassy will host a concert April 2 to declare the receipt of the artifacts, and express thanks to German authorities and the Egyptian Museum in Berlin for their effort, he added.

The iconic bust of Queen Nefertiti, currently on display at Berlin’s Neues Museum, remains one of Egypt’s top artifacts the country has said should return. The bust was obtained in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, who Egypt claims misled authorities regarding to the value of the bust to be allowed to take it out of the country; Germany claims the ownership of the artifact is not in question.

Political turmoil in Egypt since the January 25 Revolution in 2011 and the subsequent security lapse left the country’s cultural heritage vulnerable to looting. In spite of the efforts of the Egyptian government in tracking artifacts smuggled outside Egypt and in auction houses abroad, the issue is still unsettled.

In July 2014, 24 ancient Egyptian artifacts were returned from the Egyptian Museum of Leipzig University in Germany. Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh el-Damaty traveled to Germany to supervise the administrative procedures accompanying the repatriation of the artifacts, ONA reported.

The artifacts spanned several eras of ancient Egyptian civilization and were likely stolen from the west bank of Luxor, the head of the Antiquities Ministry’s Restored Artifacts Department Ali Ahmed told The Cairo Post.

Source: The Cairo Post [March 25, 2015]

The BBC has been investigating the trade, and the routes from Syria through Turkey and Lebanon to Europe.

The Smuggler

It has taken many calls and a lot of coaxing to get a man we are calling "Mohammed" to meet us. He is originally from Damascus but now plies his trade in the Bekaa valley on the border between Syria and Lebanon. He's 21 but looks much younger in his T-shirt, skinny jeans and black suede shoes. As we sit in an apartment in central Beirut I have to lean forward to hear the softly spoken young man describe how he began smuggling looted antiquities from Syria. "There's three friends in Aleppo we deal with, these people move from Aleppo all the way to the border here and pay a taxi driver to sneak it in." He specialised in smaller items which would be easier to move on - but he says even that has become too risky. "We tried our best to get the items which had most value, earrings, rings, small statues, stone heads," he says.

He made a good profit but bigger players with better connections "sold pieces worth $500,000, some for $1m", he says. When I ask who's making the money and controlling the trade in Syria his gentle voice takes on a flinty tone: "IS are the main people doing it. They are the ones in control of this business, they stole from the museums especially in Aleppo," he says. "I know for a fact these militants had connections overseas and they talked ahead of time and they shipped overseas using their connections abroad." Mohammed is still involved in cross-border trade, but no longer in antiquities. "Anyone caught with it gets severe punishment," he says. "They accuse you of being IS."

The Go-between

To sell looted antiquities you need a middle-man, like "Ahmed". Originally from eastern Syria, he is based in a town in southern Turkey - he doesn't want me to specify which one as he doesn't want the police to know. As a Turkish-speaker he is popular with Syrian smugglers, who ask if he can move goods on to local dealers. When I speak to him via Skype he shows me a blanket next to him filled with artefacts - statues of animals and human figures, glasses, vases and coins. They were dug up in the last few months. "They come from the east of Syria, from Raqqa, all the areas controlled by ISIS (Islamic State)," he says. Islamic State plays an active part in controlling the trade, he tells me. Anyone wanting to excavate has to get permission from IS inspectors, who monitor the finds and destroy any human figures, which are seen as idolatrous (those Ahmed is showing me have slipped through the net). IS takes 20% as tax. "They tax everything," he says.

The main trade is in stoneworks, statues and gold, and it can be extremely lucrative. "I have seen one piece sold for $1.1m," he says. "It was a piece from the year 8500BC." He gently handles each artefact as he brings it closer to the webcam to give me a better view. He has had to pay a sizeable bond to the smugglers to get this material and he doesn't want to lose any of it. The final destination is Western Europe, he says. "Turkish merchants sell it to dealers in Europe. They call them, send pictures... people from Europe come to check the goods and take them away." Ahmed will have to return the looted artefacts to his Syrian contacts, as I am clearly not buying them, but he won't be returning to his homeland. "If I went back I'd be killed," he says.

The Dealer

It's an unremarkable tourist shop in the centre of Beirut. Inside the glass cases are ancient oil lamps, rings and glassware but the shop owner, a laconic man in his late 40s, has an unusual selling tactic - he says much of it is fake. However, he assures me he does have genuine pieces from the Hellenic and Byzantine periods, around 1,000 years old. I'm interested what other items he can get, mosaics for example? I had been advised by archaeologists that mosaics would almost certainly be looted - at the moment, that would mean most likely from Syria. He asks which kind I want. Faces, animals, geometric designs? "If you're serious we can have a serious negotiation... there is always a way," he promises. When I ask if it's legal he smiles as he tells me the only way to legally ship these items is with official documentation from a museum saying they have been cleared for export.

If it was only a small mosaic I wanted, I could take the chance and try to smuggle it out myself but he warns it's a serious decision, as I could get caught. For a fee he can have them shipped to the UK but it will cost me many thousands of pounds. We shake hands as I leave and he gives me his business card. It has only taken 10 minutes to be offered illicit antiquities. Arthur Brand, an investigator who helps recover stolen antiquities isn't surprised, it chimes with his experience in Lebanon. "I've been there several times and at times and it really is amazing," he tells me from his base in Amsterdam. "The illicit trade is run as a professional business with offices and business cards and you can buy antiquities from Lebanon, but also from countries like Syria, Iraq." The link between smugglers and dealers is the dirty secret the art world doesn't want to admit to, he says.

The Cop

He could easily pass for the star of an Arabic cop show but Lt Col Nicholas Saad is a real policeman, head of Lebanon's bureau of international theft. In his office, filled with certificates from the FBI and Scotland Yard, he shows me photos of huge Roman busts seized in a recent raid in Lebanon. We go up to the roof of his police station, where out to the east, beyond the mountains, is the border with Syria. This is where refugees pour into the country and are exploited by the smuggling gangs.

"The refugees come in big numbers and the gangs put things between the belongings of the refugees," he explains. Since the conflict in Syria he has noticed a significant increase in the smuggling of looted artefacts, "especially from the Islamic parts, Raqqa (the base) of the Islamic State", he adds. His team has seized hundreds of Syrian artefacts. "We have the archaeology expert that said they're very valuable from the Roman period, from the Greek period, years before Christ," he says. But there isn't a market for them in Lebanon. "Lebanon is a transit station, it's one of the the doors that goes to Europe. The real money is made in Europe."

The Treasure

Inside the Beirut National museum are treasures from the cradle of civilisation - Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine statues, busts and sarcophagi 3,000 years old. Hidden away from the public in a store room below the main galleries, seized looted antiquities wait to be returned to Syria. My guide is Dr Assaad Seif, an archaeologist and head of excavations at the directorate general of antiquities in Beirut. He rings a bell and a wrought iron door is unlocked. Inside are scores of items - pottery, stonework - but the most valuable items are sealed away in a warehouse. "We have huge funeral sculptures, representing men and women used to seal the tombs, from Palmyra," he says.

Most of the seized items are from excavations rather than thefts from museums. The looters target warehouses at ancient sites like Palmyra, a Unesco world heritage site. "The warehouses at archaeological sites have objects they know are not listed or catalogued yet, and they think it could be easier to sell them," he says. "The Palmyra objects had value for people in Syria... it gives a kind of identity," he says. Although reluctant to put a price on any of the bigger items, after some coaxing he relents. "We have a dozen objects that would sell for $1m each on the open market." I understand why they keep them out of sight of curious foreign visitors.

The Destination 

It has taken days to get through to Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim, the archaeologist in charge of Syria's dept of antiquities in Damascus. When I do reach him, he's angry. "The sites under the control of ISIS, in these areas we have a disaster, a lot of problems. IS attack all things just for the money," he says. "It is our memory, our identity, for the government, the opposition, for all Syria." It's impossible to stop the looting but he is adamant more could be done to crack down on the trade. "We are sure through all the sources a lot of objects go from Syria to Europe, in Switzerland, in Germany, in UK - and Gulf countries like Dubai and Qatar," he says.

It was a common refrain. Everyone from the Lebanese police to Mohammed the smuggler and Ahmed the go-between said the main market was Europe. In the UK there have been no prosecutions or arrests for selling looted Syrian artefacts but Vernon Rapley, who ran the Metropolitan Police's art and antiquities squad for almost a decade, says too much shouldn't be read into this. "I'm quite confident that there have been seizures of material like this," he confidently states, as we stroll around his new workplace, the Victoria and Albert museum, where he is director of security.

Rapley still liaises closely with his former police unit and he is certain that artefacts from Syria are being sold here. He wants the trade in these antiquities to become "socially repugnant and unacceptable" so that in the future, he says, "we don't have interior decorators looking for these things to decorate people's houses".

Author: Simon Cox | Source: BBC News Website [February 17, 2015]

VIA Bin Laden home videos expected to be released

Realism is a bore and a bother. It's been infinitely nicer to live in a world of illusion-that we were different from other nations, that we could ignore international agreements that didn't suit us, that we could go on using cheap energy without ever paying a price. Our success and our geographic isolation have let us get away with those delusions, but September 11 has shown them for what they were. Hence the need for real realism, for a view more clear-eyed and hard-nosed than we've had before.
This fall seems to have been the fall of Bill McKibben. I saw him at the Englert Theater in October, I read his writing in my nature writing class, I participated in a climate awareness event the organization he leads hosted, and I talked about his book Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

on the most recent Green Reads podcast. He has several articles up on his website, but one that really struck me was An End to Sweet Illusions, which you can read in Mother Jones. The above quote is from this essay (Is this an essay? Is it an opinion piece? I must admit I'm straddling the line a bit.) and I think it's a good summation of the overarching point. This is from early 2002, so clearly September 11 was still extremely present in America, and there were a lot of questions about how we should approach the War on Terrorism.

McKibben shares ideas on the war, but uses it to help us understand that the way American functions today is not stable. And that going to war, while it might seem realistic on the surface, might actually make our country more vulnerable than we have been. "The American Way of Life," he says, should not be seen as stable because it has been successful in the past. Almost nine years after this essay was first written, I think it's safe to say the way we live is not stable. We are still struggling to find the security we thought we had before 9/11, but instead of backpedaling to the past we need to make plans for our new future.

I love the way McKibben writes because he uses simple language to describe environmental and political problems so anyone can understand him. Even though his ideas seem daunting at first, you find yourself wanting to learn more and more from him. On our podcast I talk about how his book Eaarth is a great starter book for anyone interested in environmentalism right now. I came away from that book with so much knowledge. I think this essay is a great starter piece to get you thinking about problems with the environment and politics, and while McKibben is kind of a downer, I do think there is some hope in what he writers.

Check out An End to Sweet Illusions on Mother Jones and let me know what you think about it! I'd also really appreciate it if you listened to the most recent Green Reads podcast.

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