Missing Iraqi art seized
Jordanian customs officials have seized six ancient Iraqi artefacts believed to have been stolen from Iraqi museums at the Karama border post, customs chief Mahmud Qutaishat says.
Qutaishat told the Petra news agency that the antiquities dated to 1500 BCE and were found hidden in a car driven by an Iraqi man as he tried to enter Jordan on Saturday.
Some of the objects had metal identification plates and could have been stolen from Iraqi museums, Qutaishat said on Sunday.
According to Petra, the seized objects included a winged bull and a half-man, half-lion statue.
Iraq museum director Donny George said in June that some 15,000 artefacts stolen from the museum were still missing.
The museum, as well as Iraqi archaeological sites, were looted after last year’s US-led invasion.
Jordanian authorities say more than 1500 pieces of antiquities have been seized at the country’s border with Iraq and they are being held for safekeeping.