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Pillaged Syrian Artefacts for Sale in Denmark

© AFP 2023 / JOSEPH EIDSyrian Artefacts. (File)
Syrian Artefacts. (File) - Sputnik International
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Danish police are investigating cases of attempted sale of looted Syrian artefacts within Denmark's borders. At present, it remains yet to be determined whether the loot is authentic or fake.

Joanna Palani - Sputnik International
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North Zealand Police has acquired images depicting alleged Syrian relics which are currently on sale in Denmark. The range of pillaged goods includes an early edition of the Quran, which is being advertised as one of the original copies of the Muslim holy book, yet is believed to be a fake by Danish experts, Danish Radio reported.

Another item being offered for sale in Denmark features a set of medicine bottles dating back to the 18th century and likely to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market. An original version of the Quran, like the one pictured in police footage, may potentially generate millions of dollars.

"The items are indeed very valuable and if proven authentic, they are clearly part of the cultural heritage," Nibal Muhesen, a professor at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, told Danish Radio.

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Joachim Meyer, the curator of the David Collection museum in Copenhagen, said that both stolen artifacts and cultural forgeries often stem from war zones. Meyer, who ventured that the Quran was a fake, also said that Western museums are well aware of the risk that stolen or looted items pose.

"It is obvious that auction houses, art dealers and even we ourselves [museums] have become much more aware of where these things are coming from and whether they have a clean background for us to determine if the items were part of the international art trade long before the wars broke out in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively" Joachim Meyer told Danish Radio.

Danish police expressed doubt that the items are physically in Denmark. Instead, they believe it's only the photos of the loot that are circulating on the Danish black market.

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Meanwhile, it is not entirely uncommon that looted artefacts from war zones and conflict areas end up for sale in Europe. In December 2016, Switzerland seized cultural relics looted from Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, as well as from Libya and Yemen. The confiscated objects, that were stored in highly secured warehouses, date back from the third and fourth centuries and include a head of Hellenic goddess Aphrodite and two funereal bas-reliefs.

Denmark has been participating in the US-led coalition's operations in Syria since April 2016. In December 2016, Copenhagen resolved to pull its fighter jets out of Syria after an accidental airstrike against the Syrian army soldiers last fall, having mistaken them for Daesh jihadists. In mid-January 2017, Denmark agreed to bolster its Syrian force with 60 special troops and a frigate operating jointly with a US aircraft carrier. As a dutiful NATO member, Denmark participated in all the recent conflicts involving the alliance, such as the Iraqi war and the Libyan conflict.

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