Some antiquities returned to Iraq

Violence has fallen across Iraq in recent months and artifacts to the country’s National Museum are trickling back -- about 6,000 have been returned of the 15,000 or so that went missing in the chaos that erupted following the U.S. invasion in 2003. But Iraqi authorities are taking no chances, and will not re-open the museum until security is assured.

“We cannot risk displaying the treasures we have unless we have guarantees that security is 100% stable in Baghdad and the area surrounding the museum,” Amira Eidan, director of Iraq’s antiquities and museums, said in an interview.

One of the world’s greatest collections of Mesopotamian treasures has remained largely locked away since the invasion, when television footage showed ragged Iraqis carting off whatever they could find.

Renovations to the museum are proceeding, however, and several countries, including the United States, have donated or pledged cash and expertise, Eidan said.