Iraqi Culture

Allied air raids have damaged HISTORIC MONUMENTS AND ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES, according to Iraq’s top archeologist. The allies have repeatedly said they are not targeting historic and cultural sites. Muaid Saeed, director-general of Iraq’s Archeology and Heritage Department, told an Iraqi newspaper that affected sites include the Iraq National Museum in central Baghdad. The museum remains intact, but he said a raid damaged a communications center across the street and that there was damage to the museum’s collection. Also damaged, he said, was the spiral minaret of the Great Mosque in Samarra, built in 850, and monuments at Ctesiphon, ancient capital of the Sassanid empire.