From the Sunday Herald in Scotland:

http://www.sundayherald.com/32895


"FEARS that Iraq's heritage will face widespread looting at the end of the
Gulf war have been heightened after a group of wealthy art dealers secured a
high-level meeting with the US administration.
It has emerged that a coalition of antiquities collectors and arts lawyers,
calling itself the American Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP), met with US
defence and state department officials prior to the start of military action
to offer its assistance in preserving the country's invaluable
archaeological collections.

The group is known to consist of a number of influential dealers who favour
a relaxation of Iraq's tight restrictions on the ownership and export of
antiquities. Its treasurer, William Pearlstein, has described Iraq's laws as
'retentionist' and has said he would support a post-war government that
would make it easier to have antiquities dispersed to the US....

...A wave of protest has also come from the Archaeological Institute of
America (AIA), which says any weakening of Iraq's strict antiquities laws
would be 'disastrous'. President Patty Gerstenblith said: 'The ACCP's agenda
is to encourage the collecting of antiquities through weakening the laws of
archaeologically-rich nations and eliminate national ownership of
antiquities to allow for easier export. '

The ACCP has caused deep unease among archaeologists since its creation in
2001. Among its main members are collectors and lawyers with chequered
histories in collecting valuable artefacts, including alleged exhibitions of
Nazi loot.... more at URL above

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