Missing Iraq treasures found at PM’s office

MORE than 600 ancient artefacts smuggled out of Iraq, recovered and lost again have been found among kitchen supplies stored at the prime minister’s office.

The 638 items include pieces of jewellery, bronze figurines and cylindrical seals from the world’s most ancient civilisations that were looted from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion.

After their recovery, the US military delivered them last year to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office, where they were forgotten.