Ancient Kuwaiti relic

BAGHDAD: Iraqi security personnel have seized a unique Kuwaiti ancient manuscript that had been stolen during the 1990- 1991 Iraqi occupation of the country. Adel Al- Husseini, the police chief in Babel, told KUNA that an antiquities trader was nabbed as he tried to sell the piece, worth millions of dollars.

A freshly-established security team lured the man to a cafe in Hilla, the provincial city in Babel, pretending to be interested buyers. When he showed up for the trade, the personnel immediately arrested him.

Husseini explained that the trader, who was a former Iraqi Army soldier, had stolen the piece from the Kuwait Museum during the country’s occupation that began in Aug 1990, adding that he intended to sell it for $45 million. The piece is made of deer leather and engraved with letters in an ancient language. It could belong to the era of King Solomon, Husseini said. It also bears stamp of the Kuwaiti Museum. The police chief said the Iraqi government should take a decision with regards of handing it over to Kuwait, pending completion of the investigations. —KUNA