[MSN] British university forced to return 'looted' Iraq treasure. One of Britain's leading universities is embroiled in an embarrassing row over hundreds of treasures looted from Iraq.

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British university forced to return 'looted' Iraq treasure 
By Andrew Johnson 
Published: 07 October 2007 
One of Britain's leading universities is embroiled in an embarrassing row
over hundreds of treasures looted from Iraq.

Found scattered around ancient Mesopotamia, the Aramaic incantation or devil
bowls were placed upside down in homes during the sixth to eighth centuries
to trap evil spirits. The spells, and information such as the names of the
home owners, are not found in any other source. One collection contains the
earliest examples of the Bible in Hebrew.

Anther collection is at the centre of a legal row that has divided Britain's
academic community. Since the first Gulf War in 1990, Iraq has been a
looters' paradise. The United Nations introduced a sanction in 2003 making
it illegal to handle artefacts from the country. So when University College
London came into possession of 654 bowls, the biggest collection in the
world, which it loaned from a private collector, suspicions were raised.

The bowls belong to Martin Schoyen, a Norwegian collector of ancient
scripts. There is no suggestion that he looted the bowls, or was aware they
may have been looted when he bought them in London from a Jordanian who
claimed they had been in his family for generations.

UCL set up a committee of inquiry which found that "on the balance of
probability" the bowls had, somewhere along the line, been looted from Iraq.

At this point Mr Schoyen sued UCL for their return. Legally his claim is
sound, because he has held title for seven years. What has dismayed
academics, however, is that the inquiry report was suppressed as part of the
out-of-court settlement.

Professor Colin Renfrew, a fellow at Cambridge University and a member of
UCL's committee of inquiry, is angry that the settlement said the report
should be withheld. A world expert in ancient treasures, Lord Renfrew said
UCL had no choice but to return the collection.

"Even if the bowls were looted it is likely that Mr Schoyen, as a good-faith
buyer, could have good title to them. Even so there is a good ethical case
for their return to Iraq," he said.

"UCL tried to do the right and ethical thing by setting up a committee of
inquiry. Then, when threatened with a lawsuit, in my view, it gave way under
pressure. How has the largest known collection of incantation bowls been in
Jordan for 70 years and nobody knew about it?"

UCL could not comment, but in June, said: "Having made all the inquiries it
reasonably could, UCL has no basis for concluding that title is vested other
than in the Schoyen Collection." The collection also could not comment but
has said that it "strongly supports a tough regime for cultural protection."

http://news.independent.co.uk/