Fed: Australia to send leading archaeologist to Baghdad
CANBERRA, April 22 AAP - Australia will send a leading expert in Middle Eastern archaeologyto Baghdad to help restore records destroyed by looters in the Iraqi capital.
The government-appointed Council for Australian-Arab Relations said it would sponsora visit to Baghdad by Daniel Potts, the professor of Middle Eastern archaeology at theUniversity of Sydney.
Prof Potts would help curators re-establish records at the looted Baghdad Museum, whilethe council would also provide a laptop computer and software to the museum for futurerecord keeping.
"Reconstructing the records will help identify stolen items and this information willbe shared with local and international authorities to help recover as many of the itemsas possible," the council said in a statement.
Prof Potts, it said, was a world-renowned archaeologist and he would travel to Baghdadas soon as the security situation allowed.
"The council deeply regrets the loss of the museum's treasures," it said.
"This loss is a tragedy for the Iraqi people, the Arab world, and for us all."
The council was formed by the government last year and is headed by monopoly wheatexporter AWB Ltd's chairman Brendan Stewart.
AAP rft/sw/tnf/de
KEYWORD: IRAQ POTTS
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