I haven't heard about this organization, but the US and Iraq have both
accepted UNESCO's 1970 convention on importing and exporting cultural
property, so the ACCP will have to do more than lobby its government.
They'll have to take on international law.
------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery
1302 Bomford Crescent S.W.
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 5E6
(403) 502-8587
>>> [log in to unmask] 04/07/03 08:30AM >>>
Does any one have additional information confirming or denying the
following? Thanks.
Paul T Werner, New York
US plans to loot Iraqi antiques
07.04.2003 [08:33]
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.
Before the Gulf war, a main strand of the ACCP's campaigning has been
to persuade its government to revise the Cultural Property
Implementation Act in order to minimise efforts by foreign nations to
block the import into the US of objects, particularly antiques.
News of the group's meeting with the government has alarmed scientists
and archaeologists who fear the ACCP is working to a hidden agenda that
will see the US authorities ease restrictions on the movement of Iraqi
artefacts after a coalition victory in Iraq.
Professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, leading Cambridge archaeologist
and director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,
said: 'Iraqi antiquities legislation protects Iraq. The last thing one
needs is some group of dealer-connected Americans interfering. Any
change to those laws would be absolutely monstrous. '
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.
They denied accusations of attempting to change Iraq's treatment of
archaeological objects. Instead, they said at the January meeting they
offered 'post-war technical and financial assistance', and 'conservation
support'.
Liam McDougall/Sunday Herald
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