Security forces arrest gang accused of stealing antique holy book

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— The Iraqi Anti-Crime Directorate announced on Friday the arrest of a gang allegedly involved in stealing antiquities in Baghdad over the theft of a rare book from the Iraqi National Museum.

The directorate said in a statement a force from the Baghdad Anti-Crime Directorate arrested four suspects for stealing an antique Jewish holy book written in Hebrew titled “The Star of David.”

The gang was ambushed and caught red-handed after they were lured into trying to sell the book for the amount of one million US dollars, according to a statement from the ministry of interior.

Iraqi antiquities were subjected to looting and vandalism after 2003, the most severe of which was in 2014 when the Islamic State (ISIS) occupied large swaths of Iraqi territory.

Antiquities were damaged in Nineveh province after ISIS took control of the archaeological areas there and destroyed and sold thousands of pieces in the global market through intermediaries.

Statistics indicate ISIS earned an estimated $ 36 million from trading Iraqi antiquities, the Supreme Judicial Council said in its October report.

Iraq’s antiquities have been vulnerable to theft and destruction since 2003 especially, facing government neglect and rampant looting by Iraqis and foreigners during cycles of violence.

For those artifacts unharmed, neighboring Turkey became part of a smuggling route for their black market sale to art collectors worldwide.

Security forces arrest gang accused of stealing antique holy book

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