‘A catastrophe has befallen Iraq’s heritage’

SOME of the first examples of written words and number systems from the dawn of civilisation are missing from museums in Baghdad.

It is estimated thieves have taken more than 170,000 items from Baghdad's main museum, with the museum in Mosul in the north undergoing a similar fate.

There has been outrage after coalition troops failed to prevent looters burning priceless libraries and ransacking museums. Britain is dispatching a group of experts to Iraq to help in the restoration and recovery of the looted antiquities.