Syria returns artifacts to Baghdad Museum

DAMASCUS, Syria, April 25 (UPI) -- Syrian officials returned several hundred artifacts from the third century Mesopotamian era to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad.

Syrian authorities seized more than 700 Mesopotamian artifacts from smugglers and handed them over to Iraqi State Minister of Tourism and Culture Mohammad al-Urabi, the Iraqi daily Azzaman said Friday.

"These pieces alone can make a museum of their own," Syrian Culture Minister Riyadh Agha said.

Thousands of artifacts were looted from the Baghdad Museum following the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Syrian officials said the majority of the artifacts were coins, statues and jewelry from the third century.