News - Yemen: Deputy Minister of Culture, Mohammed Haidara, described the agreement signed by the pro-aggression government with the US over the protection of Yemeni antiquities as suspicious.

Haidara explained that the agreement comes in the context of the US efforts to cover the thefts that affected Yemen’s antiquities during the years of aggression and siege.

He pointed out that there are 16 international auctions for the sale of stolen antiquities from Yemen, including five in the US, four in Britain, two auctions in Zionist entity, and an auction in France and Netherlands.

He pointed out that about 8,000 artifacts were smuggled from Yemen during the years of aggression, stressing that 2,165 of those artifacts are for sale in the US, 972 in Netherlands, 501 in Zionist entity, 421 in France, and 135 in Germany.

For his part, the head of the General official for the Protection of Antiquities and Museums, Abad Al-Hayal, said that the agreement with the US is to cover the thefts that affected Yemen’s antiquities.

He pointed out that the history of American thefts of Yemen’s antiquities is full, and there are hundreds of artifacts in the American Smithsonian Museum.

Director General of Antiquities Protection, Abdul Karim Al-Barakani, said that the targeting of the Dhamar Regional Museum  by the US-Saudi aggression led to the loss of 12,000 antiquities.

He called on the international community to take urgent measures to stop the theft of Yemeni antiquities and return what was looted.

The smuggling and sale of Yemen’s antiquities has flourished in global auctions recently, from the US to Britain, France and Germany to the Zionist enemy entity, after the aggression coalition focused during the past years on destroying immutable antiquities with its criminal raids and the demolition shovels of its takfiri tools.

Smuggling does not only include pieces that were stolen from museums, but also from random excavations of archaeological sites. Therefore, there is no specific statistics on the number of smuggled antiquities, although estimates indicate that thousands of rare pieces and manuscripts were smuggled.

Collecting the fragments of Yemeni antiquities seems impossible because those who claim to protect the history of Yemen, its treasures and collectibles abroad are trading and promoting them, exploiting their control over the occupied areas and their control over airports, land and sea ports.

The bleeding of antiquities smuggling will remain relentless, unless Yemen achieves its independence, and the arduous task remains in tracking down these antiquities in auctions and black markets, and engaging in dozens of judicial disputes to recover them.