MESOP REPORT PALYMRA GOT LOST : How Syria’s archaeological artifacts are smuggled out of the country
By: Suhaib Anjarini – al akhbar – Monday, April 7, 2014 – “Of course it is possible, but it will cost you a lot of money,” said Ahmed, a Syrian militant, who was asked if he could bring us an old artifact after we claimed to have specific information about its location at an archaeological site in Aleppo’s countryside. In a conversation over Skype, Ahmed told us that “the value of the artifact doesn’t determine the cost of the transfer,” because “we will have to face the same risk,” regardless of the piece.
“We are paid for the transfer and this job may cost us our lives,” he explained, adding “anyway, if it wasn’t expensive, you wouldn’t have asked for it, all artifacts are expensive,” ending his sentence with a winking smiley. Ahmed refused to give us detailed information about his group. Concerning the price, he said that we have two options, either we give him detailed information about the artifact and its location along with a picture or we send in a team to the site under Ahmed’s protection. Ahmed got annoyed from our many questions, “it seems you are only asking for the fun of it, I don’t have time for you,” he said, and then he disappeared. Abdo (an alias), who was our link to Ahmed, seemed more comfortable with our questions and warned us from scams because, according to him, “Ahmed is not the one in charge.”
The mafia like business involving archeological smuggling, which was already taking place in times of peace, prospered further amid the current volatile security and the absence of the state. “He is just a member of a group offering these kinds of services along many other tasks, it is not up to him,” he explained. Abdo used to work with the group but quit after getting shot in the shoulder last year. He moved to a neighboring country to get treatment and hasn’t returned since. He said that he used to offer protection services for “experts,” revealing that his last operation was in February 2013, “there were three people who spoke English, one of them was in his fifties, and apparently he was their leader.”
“They were handed to us by another armed group that brought them in through the Turkish border. We accompanied them to the site where they were received by a third group,” he said. Two days later, they repeated the job in the opposite direction. The young man stressed that he doesn’t have a lot of accurate information and that he was just a member of a group headed by a man known as Abu al-Leil. His group always conducted these kind of operations under Abu al-Leil’s command who was apparently executing orders received from “a senior leader.”
No further details were available, but obviously these operations are proceeding according to plan. The mafia like business involving archeological smuggling, which was already taking place in times of peace, prospered further amid the current volatile security and the absence of the state.
Media outlets have already reported on archeological theft in Syria that is not restricted to the rebel-held north. It is also prospering in the south near the Jordanian border, and recently near the Lebanese border. Interestingly, most Syrian archeological sites are located in regions out of the state’s control, mostly in Daraa, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, and Idlib’s countryside. Unfortunately, we lack precise figures on the scope of these operations but a 2013 report estimated the value of smuggled artifacts at US$ 2 billion. At the time, the director of Syrian Museums, Mamoun Abdul Karim called the report “an inaccurate news story,” highlighting the “tragedy hitting Syria’s archeological sites because of the armed groups.” Meanwhile, Culture Minister Loubana Mashouh brushed aside these reports, saying that they aim “to impact Syria’s global position in archeological sites.” However, whether this position was impacted or not, one thing is for sure: Syria’s archeological sites are not in their best conditions, much like everything else in Syria during the war. Meanwhile, UNESCO has nothing to say on the issue except for expressing its “concern.”
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.