Sword of Saladin blooms again
2003-09-12 07:36
Baghdad - American and Iraqi soldiers came across the Sword of Saladin in two raids in Baghdad on Thursday, along with dozens of other stolen art pieces from Saddam Hussein's palaces and the national museum.
The Sword of Saladin - named after sultan revered by Muslims as the liberator of Jerusalem - and a number of small antique statues were discovered in a flower shop in the Karrade district of Baghdad, the Iraqi newspaper "al-Sabah" reported.
The Lebanese shopowner brought investigators in to track down an Iraqi dealing in the stolen items.
Police, in a search of the man's home, uncovered another sword and a carpet dating back to the time of the first Islamic caliphs, looted from one of Saddam's palaces after a US-led attack.
The number of the artefacts looted from the national museum is meanwhile known to be substantially lower than first feared.
A member of the US team of investigators told the BBC on Thursday that more than 3 000 articles have been returned as a result of raids or by the thieves themselves, but said at least 10 000 pieces were still missing. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA