Damascus, SANA- Director of museums in the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums(GDAM), Ahmad Deeb asserted Thursday that competent authorities confiscated and reclaimed 6000 pieces of looted antiquities trafficked by the terrorist organizations during the past period, including 69 antiquities and 8 mosaic panels were reclaimed from Lebanon.

“GDAM has taken a series of measures to preserve the museums from terrorists’ robbery, on top, closing some museums after emptying them and moving most of antiquities from the areas controlled by terrorists such as Deir Ezzour, Dara and Homs and putting them in safe places,” Deeb said.

He added that GDAM notified International organizations such the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) on the photos and documents of looted antiquities, calling on these organizations to cooperate and coordinate for reclaiming all the Syrian antiquities trafficked by the terrorists outside the country.

Syria is a cultural treasure trove that includes six sites on the World Heritage list compiled by UNESCO.

Concerning the international cooperation to fight the illegal trafficking of cultural properties, Director of law affairs in GDAM, Ayman Sulieman pointed out that UNESCO took important role in this regard, the most important of which, taking a number of diplomatic and legal measures and holding training workshops.

Reem/Barry