BAGHDAD: Iraq managed to recover some 17,000 looted artifacts from the United States, marking the return of the largest amount of smuggled Iraqi antiquities, Iraqi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Hassan Nadhim said in a statement.
Recovered antiquities are displayed at the foreign ministry, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 29, 2019. The artifacts paraded Monday include archaeological and historical pieces recovered from Britain and Sweden, pottery fragments and shards with writing dating back to the ancient Sumerian civilization. Iraq is putting a great effort to restore its lost rich cultural heritage after it was decimated during the chaos that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion. AP FILE PHOTO
Nadhim praised the return of these artifacts as a "momentous event" and expressed his hope for more efforts to retrieve other Iraqi artifacts smuggled to Europe, the statement said.