Biggest Art Theft In History

The story of what really happened inside the Iraq Museum when thousands of valuable antiquities were stolen in the immediate aftermath of the 2003 United States invasion has been revealed in a new book - Thieves of Baghdad by Matthew Bogdanos. Written by the chief investigator, it says there were three separate thefts, at least one of which was an inside job, another the work of professionals, and a third the fault of fleeing Iraq military. At least 13,864 objects were stolen, making it the biggest museum heist in history. But the book reveals that, with an estimated 500,000 objects in the museum and thieves having the run of the place for 36 hours, the wonder is the loss was not far closer to the original, inaccurate, reports of 170,000 items. And the efforts of Iraqi, US and Italian officials, plus police and customs worldwide, have so far led to the recovery of 5400 items, nearly 700 from inside the US and Britain. For the full story - click the title Irish Art