{"id":94758,"date":"2023-03-12T08:04:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T05:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/?p=94758"},"modified":"2024-08-19T20:13:55","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T17:13:55","slug":"this-week-the-fbi-returned-an-artifact-to-the-government-of-iraq-believed-to-have-been-stolen-during-the-pillaging-of-the-iraq-museum-in-baghdad-20-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/?p=94758","title":{"rendered":"This week, the #FBI returned an artifact to the government of Iraq believed to have been stolen during the pillaging of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad 20 years ago."},"content":{"rendered":"

\nNew York \u00a0-Rashad Alkhader -Free Yemen Eye -From-News- FBI<\/p>\n

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Stolen Art Returned to Iraq
\nArtifact was stolen during looting of Iraq Museum 20 years ago<\/p>\n

The FBI this week returned an artifact to the government of Iraq that is believed to have been stolen during the pillaging of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad in 2003.<\/p>\n

The item, named \u201cFurniture Fitting with Sphinx Trampling a Youth,\u201d dates back about 2,700 years, according to archaeologists. The ivory figure, which stands only 2 1\/4 inches tall and 1 1\/2 inches wide, is adorned with pigment and gold leaf. It was on exhibit at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta until special agents in the FBI\u2019s Boston and Atlanta field offices determined the artifact was, in fact, the property of Iraq.<\/p>\n

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Special Agent Jake Archer, left, a member of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, and Salwan Sinjaree, charg\u00e9 d’affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, sign documents marking the return of a stolen artifact on March 8, 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are glad our agents could return a small part of history back to where it belongs in Iraq,\u201d said Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta.<\/p>\n

The piece is believed to be the first relic looted from the Iraq Museum in Baghdad to be found in a United States museum collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cFBI Boston is extremely proud to have played a role in helping to recover it,\u201d said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, the division\u2019s special agent in charge. \u201cThis case represents our ongoing commitment to pursue justice for victims of art crime here and abroad and to rectify such losses to the historical record.\u201dI\u2019m<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Salwan
Salwan Sinjaree, the charg\u00e9 d’affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, accepted the return of the small ivory figure on behalf of the Republic of Iraq. Archaeologists believe the artifact, which stands only 2 1\/4 inches tall and 1 1\/2 inches wide, dates back 2,700 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Investigators believe the Carlos Museum purchased the artifact from a third party in 2006 after they were provided a fake provenance claiming the artifact entered the U.S in 1969. Agents consulted experts, including one with photos showing the item in the Iraq Museum in 1983, and representatives from the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania, who helped confirm the artifact\u2019s authenticity. After the yearlong investigation, which included agents in Boston, Atlanta, and the FBI\u2019s specialized Art Crime Team Unit, the museum handed the artifact over to the FBI last December.<\/p>\n

\u201cFBI Atlanta is honored to have the\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to do its part by returning this important piece of cultural heritage to the people of Iraq,\u201d said Special Agent Rafael Jimenez, who worked on the case.\u00a0\u201cThe FBI is also grateful to the Michael C. Carlos Museum for its cooperation in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a March 8 ceremony at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C., an Art Crime Team special agent delivered the artifact to the embassy for repatriation. The ceremony, which included the U.S. Department of State and Homeland Security Investigations, followed a conference at the embassy aimed at improving international cooperation in repatriating stolen artifacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate always all the efforts from the U.S. law enforcement agencies,\u201d said Salwan Sinjaree, the charg\u00e9 d’affaires, or chief of mission, at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq. Sinjaree formally received the artifact in a brief signing ceremony at the embassy and said he looked forward to more cooperation in the future.<\/p>\n

Jake Archer, a special agent on the FBI Art Crime Team who presented the artifact to Sinjaree, said the repatriation could not have happened without the work of agents in Boston and Atlanta and the support of subject matter experts and partners in the U.S. and overseas. He said the FBI will keep pursuing criminals dealing in stolen art and antiquities even as the Bureau confronts myriad other priorities. \u201cIt will continue, wherever possible, to investigate the illicit trafficking of cultural property,\u201d said Archer, \u201cand seek to bring justice to both offenders and victims in this worldwide crime problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The FBI\u2019s Art Crime Team was established in 2004, in part as a result of the looting in Baghdad 20 years ago. The team includes agents from field offices around the country who are trained in all aspects of art, including history and the business of art. The Art Crime Team Unit at FBI Headquarters also manages the National Stolen Art File<\/a>, a database of stolen art and cultural property submitted by agencies around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jake Archer, special agent, FBI Art Crime Team<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York \u00a0-Rashad Alkhader -Free Yemen Eye -From-News- FBI Stolen Art Returned to Iraq Artifact was stolen during looting of Iraq Museum 20 years ago The FBI this week returned an artifact to the government of Iraq that is believed to have been stolen during the pillaging of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad in 2003. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":94760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diverse-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}