Source: US FBI
In a March 8 ceremony at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C., an Art Crime Team special agent delivered the artifact to the embassy for repatriation. The ceremony, which included the U.S. Department of State and Homeland Security Investigations, followed a conference at the embassy aimed at improving international cooperation in repatriating stolen artifacts.
“I appreciate always all the efforts from the U.S. law enforcement agencies,” said Salwan Sinjaree, the chargé d’affaires, or chief of mission, at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq. Sinjaree formally received the artifact in a brief signing ceremony at the embassy and said he looked forward to more cooperation in the future.
Jake Archer, a special agent on the FBI Art Crime Team who presented the artifact to Sinjaree, said the repatriation could not have happened without the work of agents in Boston and Atlanta and the support of subject matter experts and partners in the U.S. and overseas. He said the FBI will keep pursuing criminals dealing in stolen art and antiquities even as the Bureau confronts myriad other priorities. “It will continue, wherever possible, to investigate the illicit trafficking of cultural property,” said Archer, “and seek to bring justice to both offenders and victims in this worldwide crime problem.”
The FBI’s Art Crime Team was established in 2004, in part as a result of the looting in Baghdad 20 years ago. The team includes agents from field offices around the country who are trained in all aspects of art, including history and the business of art. The Art Crime Team Unit at FBI Headquarters also manages the National Stolen Art File, a database of stolen art and cultural property submitted by agencies around the world.