treasure hunters

Three men have been arrested in Iraq on charges of trafficking eight priceless ancient artefacts, as the war-torn nation clamps down on a burgeoning black market. The men were foiled after trying to sell one item for $160,000 to an undercover intelligence officer of the Iraq Army 12th Division, just outside the northern city of Kirkuk. A fourth trafficker is yet to have been caught by the police. Among the treasures was the bust of a Sumerian king, local army chiefs told Associated Press. All of the objects date from the region's Sumerian era, between 4,000 and 2,000 BC. Major General Abdul Amir al-Zaidi told reporters the sting was based on information from local residents, and stressed the Iraqi authorities' commitment to retrieving vital artefacts in the face of civil unrest: "The duty of Iraqi army is not only to chase the terrorists but also to protect state treasures," he said.

A hat-trick of victories have been won around the world this week in the global fight against the theft and sale of archaeological artefacts – a multi-million dollar international industry. The arrest of three men in Bulgaria in connection with their possession of a number of precious Roman coins and other items is particularly heartening, since it offers some sign that the tide might be turning in the struggle against a black-market industry that has been destroying the country’s rich ancient heritage.

There has been no shortage of sad stories surrounding the economic hardship of those living in the former Soviet Union. Nearly all of its satellite states, as well as the Russian homeland, have suffered an economic black hole after the Berlin Wall came down, where a tremendous chasm swells between the monied Mafioso and super-rich oligarchy, and the rural peasantry and jobless. And in Bulgaria, a country hiding millennia of prosperity beneath its soil, the tragedy has extended below surface level - as thousands of people loot national treasures to make ends meet.