Art falls prey to war

The British Museum is to hold a top-level meeting of curators and scholars this month in a bid to help museums in Iraq protect and restore their ancient treasures.

Anxiety about the country's priceless cultural heritage has been increased by reports that American art dealers have been lobbying US state department and defence officials for an easing of strict export laws under whatever government replaces the Saddam regime.

Archaeologists and curators say this would open the floodgates to looting by providing impoverished Iraqis and occupying troops with a ready market. Museums were looted in southern Iraq at the end of the previous Gulf war, when Saddam briefly lost control of the area to Shia rebels and artifacts made their way on to the black market.

The breakdown of order has been much more widespread this time and archaeologists have been bombarding the UN, and the British and American governments, with pleas for protection. The immediate fear is looting, but reconstruction holds potential dangers of its own to sites and historic buildings.

But an unexpected decision by Clare Short, the international development secretary, to axe Unesco's UK national commission may jeopardise the contribution British academics could make to Iraqi reconstruction.

Under Unesco rules, member countries are supposed to convene panels of experts in science, communication, culture and education. But Short has axed the UK's group of "civil society" experts, in favour of a government body, the British Council. In a protest letter on behalf of the commission, Professor Alec Boksenberg, former director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, said: "We believe passionately that the UK should play its full part in building a culture of world peace through its contribution to Unesco."

The British Museum is calling experts together to see what help they can offer. It is hoping the meeting will be attended by Iraqi curators, who it very much wants to see kept in post and provided with security guards to protect museums and sites. After the last war the museum identified 10 looted artifacts that appeared for sale in London, and was able to get them returned.

Dominique Collon, assistant keeper in the department of the ancient near east at the British Museum, said today that alarm bells had been set ringing by reports of a meeting before the start of the war between a coalition of antiquities collectors and arts lawyers, calling itself the American Council for Cultural Policy, with US defence and state department officials. The group offered help in preserving Iraq's invaluable archaeological collections, but archaeologists fear there is a hidden agenda to ease the way for exports post-Saddam.

The ACCP's treasurer, William Pearlstein, has described Iraq's laws as "retentionist", and the group includes influential dealers who favour a relaxation of the current tight restrictions on the ownership and export of antiquities.

Dr Collon said: "This is just the sort of thing that will encourage looting. Once there is American blessing, they have got a market for these antiquities and it becomes open season. The last thing we want is condoned looting."

Pearlstein denied that the group wanted to change American or Iraqi law and said he had been speaking about Iraq's laws in a private capacity. The January meeting was to offer post-war technical and financial assistance and conservation support.

More than 200 archaeologists from around the world last week signed a petition calling on the UN and Unesco to ensure that whatever body oversees post-war Iraq takes steps to preserve its priceless heritage from destruction and looting. They urged that security personnel be posted throughout Iraq as soon as possible.

Professor Robert Springborg, director of the London Middle East Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies, predicted a "frenzy" of building and development as Iraq tried to make good war damage and years of stagnation under sanctions. It was essential to put regulations in place to safeguard ancient buildings and archaeological sites, he said.

"Reconstruction in the absence of cultural heritage impact assessments can be extremely damaging. It is imperative that what is left is not destroyed or modified beyond recognition."