US to Repatriate Over 60 Cultural Treasures to Iraq

US State Department announced that the United States will return more than 60 cultural artifacts to Iraq following the destruction of numerous ancient treasures by ISIL.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will return more than 60 cultural artifacts to Iraq following the destruction of numerous ancient treasures by ISIL militants earlier this year, US State Department stated in a press release.

“Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan will join… Iraqi Ambassador to the United States Lukman Faily on Monday, March 16… to repatriate more than 60 items which had been smuggled into the United States,” the press release said.

ISIL militants have recently destroyed and looted some of the world's most precious archaeological and cultural treasures in Iraqi cities of Hatra, Nimrud, and Mosul.

“At a time when ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] is destroying the ancient monuments and artifacts of Iraq’s rich history, the United States continues to work towards preserving its historical legacy for the Iraqi people and for the world,” the release underscored.

A video released by the ISIL in late February showed militants using sledgehammers to smash pre-Islamic artifacts in the Mosul’s museum in northern Iraq.

Iraq's Tourism and Antiquities Minister Adel Sharshab told Sputnik on Thursday that all artifacts destroyed in Mosul except four were original.

Russia’s Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow said earlier it has several casts of the exhibits from the pillaged Mosul collection.