Iraq Museum to Reopen This Month

Iraq will reopen later this month its renowned national museum, home to priceless artefacts plundered in the unchecked chaos following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, an Iraqi minister said.

The long-awaited reopening marks a milestone in the government’s efforts to retrieve and preserve artefacts and archaeological sites from Iraq’s history after almost six years of theft, destruction and violence.

The country is said to be the site of the ‘cradle of civilisation’, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the looting of relics — some thousands of years old — was seen as a tragedy for Iraq and for the world.

Qahtan al-Jibouri, Iraq’s minister of state for tourism and antiquities, said the government had been renovating the museum in central Baghdad for several months and planned to open its doors to the public before the end of February.

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