Kuwaiti Items to Be Returned, Iraqi Aide Says

All the priceless treasures stolen from Kuwaiti museums during Iraq’s seven-month occupation of Kuwait have been preserved and will soon be returned to the liberated emirate as demanded by the U.N. Security Council, a leading Iraqi authority reported.

Muayad Said, the director of Iraq’s Department of Antiquities, said Saturday that the vast array of gold jewelry, archeological pieces and Islamic works of art taken by Iraqi soldiers after they invaded Kuwait was carefully protected during the subsequent allied aerial bombardment and did not suffer any appreciable damage.

Kuwait possessed one of the world’s largest collections of Islamic art, including gold jewelry and statues, and many experts around the world feared the masterpieces were destroyed after Iraqi soldiers ransacked the Kuwaiti museums.

According to Said, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry recently sent a letter to the U.N. secretary general documenting all of the items taken from Kuwait’s National Museum, the House of Islamic Arts and Antiquities, and the Falaika Island Archeological Museum.