Iraq museum is reopened
When U.S. troops strode into the Iraq Museum of Natural History in June, they found a scene of destruction: wires and light fixtures torn out, display cases crushed, stuffed wolves and jackals carted off by looters and thieves.
Piecing the sanctuary back together became the six-month task of the U.S. Army’s 16th Engineer Battalion, which presided over its reopening ceremony Wednesday, although most of the refurbished display cases remain empty.
The looters left a few stuffed exhibits behind, including a towering camel, a ragged pair of striped hyenas and a white Arabian stallion that belonged to Saddam Hussein.
The destruction of the natural history museum received much less attention than the April looting of the Iraqi National Museum, which remains closed and under Iraqi police guard.
As part of its recovery, the museum has established relations with the American and British natural history museums.
From Associated Press
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