Foreign Minister Delivers Antiquities to the Minister of Culture and Tourism

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Foreign Minister Mr. Mohamad A. Alhakim handed over antiquities to the Minister of Culture and Tourism , Mr. Abdul Amir Al-Hamdani that had been acquired by the Foreign Ministry from several countries through coordination between the Iraqi embassies with the countries in which these antiquities were taken from Iraq by illegal means.

The two Ministers signed the receipt and handover minutes at a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry which was attended by Undersecretaries of the ministry, heads of political departments, and several representatives of diplomatic missions working in Baghdad and the media.

In his speech, Minister Alhakim expressed his thanks to all those who contributed to the recovery of these antiquities, especially the countries to which these pieces had entered, including: Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and South Korea stressing that the Foreign Ministry will spare no effort to recover the rest of our cultural heritage throughout the world.

These pieces included 156 Cuneiform tablets received by the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in London from the British Museum, and a file containing 250 documents dating back to the second century, which is correspondence belonging to the royal family received by our embassy in Riyadh from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, and a piece received by our embassy in Seoul from a German citizen taken from the Ziggurat Ur, and an antique was received by our embassy in Bern from an Iraqi family residing in Switzerland.