Iraqi Museum due to open next month

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi museum will be opened during the coming month, Antiquity Department sources declared today. The source told IraqiNews.com that the museum shall be opened if all obstacles are countered. The 23-show rooms shall be made of chronological bases in order to clarify the stages passed on Mesopotamia. The source said that 15 thousand pieces were stolen, only 4900 were regained. The main countries cooperated to regain the stolen antiquities were Syria, Jordan and USA. The source declared that random drilling for antiquities and smuggling were  minimized due to control of the rule and police follow-up. The Iraqi museum was plundered in 2003 when the US forces entered Baghdad, which led to the loss of all the antiquities, before it was regained, but there are more still missing. RM (TI)/SR 177