DAMASCUS: Thieves broke into the national museum in the Syrian capital and stole several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era, officials said Tuesday.
The National Museum of Damascus was temporarily closed after the heist was discovered early Monday. The museum reopened in January as the country is reeling from the 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year Assad family rule last year.
The museum in central Damascus, the country’s largest, houses invaluable antiquities dating back to Syria’s long history. After the war started, security was boosted with metal gates and surveillance cameras.
An official from Syria’s Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums told The Associated Press that six marble statues were stolen, adding that an investigation is ongoing.
Another official told AP that the theft occurred Sunday night and was discovered early Monday, when one of the doors at the classical department was found broken and several statues dating back to the Roman era were missing. The official refused to give an exact number.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations because the government has not yet made a statement.
On Tuesday morning, an AP journalist tried to enter the museum and was told by security guards that it was closed. They refused to answer questions about the theft.
The section of the museum where the statues were reported stolen is “a beautiful and historically-rich department with artifacts dating back to the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods,” said Maamoun Abdulkarim, the former head of the government’s antiquities and museums department.
The museum reopened on Jan. 8, a month after rebels ousted President Bashar Assad, ushering in a new era for the country. Fearful of looting, the museum in Damascus closed after the lightning offensive that ended five decades of Assad’s family rule.
After Syria’s conflict began in March 2011, authorities had moved hundreds of priceless artifacts to Damascus from different parts of the country, including the historic central town of Palmyra that was once held by members of the Daesh group.
In 2015, IS members destroyed mausoleums in Palmyra’s UNESCO World Heritage site that is famous for its 2,000-year-old Roman colonnades, other ruins and priceless artifacts.
Thieves steal ancient Roman-era statues from the national museum in Syria
https://arab.news/c75d6
Thieves steal ancient Roman-era statues from the national museum in Syria
- Security had been boosted with metal gates and surveillance cameras after the war started
- The theft occurred Sunday night, with a broken door found in the classical department. Both officials spoke anonymously, and the government has not yet made a statement
Soleimani warned Al-Assad about ‘spy’ Luna Al-Shibl: Al-Majalla
LONDON: The late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani confronted Syria’s National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk in late 2019 after seeing Luna Al-Shibl leaving his office. Al-Majalla magazine claims its reporters reviewed a document containing the full Arabic transcript of their exchange.
Soleimani reportedly asked, “Who is this?” and Mamlouk replied, “She is Louna Al-Shibl, the president’s adviser.”
The Quds Force commander pressed further: “I know, I know… but who is she really? Where did she work?”
According to Al-Majalla, a sister publication of Arab News, he said her former salary was “ten thousand dollars,” compared with her current salary of “five hundred thousand Syrian pounds,” before asking: “Does it make sense for someone to leave ten thousand dollars for five hundred thousand pounds? She is a spy.”
Both Soleimani and Maher Al-Assad, commander of the Syrian army’s powerful Fourth Division, had warned the ousted president’s inner circle about Al-Shibl, Al-Majalla reported.
‘Suspicious’ car crash
On July 2, 2024, Al-Shibl was involved in what officials described as a traffic accident on the Damascus-Dimas highway. She was hospitalized and died four days later.
But Al-Majalla reported that photos of her armored BMW showed only minor damage, raising immediate questions among those close to the case.
Eyewitnesses told the magazine that the crash was intentional. One said, “a car approached and rammed her vehicle,” and before her bodyguard could exit, “a man attacked her and struck her on the back of the head,” causing paralysis that led to her death.
She was first taken to Al-Saboura clinic, then transferred to Al-Shami Hospital. Several senior regime-linked figures, including businessman Mohammed Hamsho and an aide to Maher Al-Assad, were present when her condition deteriorated. One witness told Al-Majalla that when her bodyguard tried to explain what had happened, “he was arrested immediately in front of the others.”
The presidency later issued a brief statement announcing her death. Her funeral was attended only by a handful of officials. Then president Al-Assad did not attend.
