Smuggling antiquities gang arrested in Najaf

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Police forces on Tuesday arrested a gang for smuggling antiquities in the province of Najaf, the director of the Najaf police said. “The forces found two pieces dating back to the Sumerian ages in their possession while trying to smuggle it,” Captain Ali al-Shiriefi told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The four-person gang used to smuggle the stolen Iraqi antiquities abroad,” he added. “They found the statues of two men with a length ranges from 15-20 cm,” he also said. Najaf, about 160 km south of Baghdad, has an estimated population of 900,600 in 2008, though this has increased significantly since 2003 due to immigration from abroad. The city is one of the holiest cities of Shiite Islam and the center of Shiite political power in Iraq. Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Taleb (also known as “Imam Ali”), whom Shiites consider to be the righteous caliph and first imam.   SH (S)/SR 1