BAGHDAD, Members of the US Senate are seeking a legislation to ban the return of the archives of the Iraqi Jews to Baghdad after being seized during the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“The US State Department is working with Baghdad to extend the existence of the Jewish archive in the United States, bearing in mind that the Ministry confirmed last year its intention to return manuscripts and archives in September of this year.”
“A group of US lawmakers came up after discussions in the Senate on Wednesday, a draft resolution recommending that the United States renegotiate with Iraq to abandon the archive and keep it in the United States,” the website said.
“The US forces discovered the archive in 2003, in the basement of the Iraqi intelligence building in Baghdad, immersed in water, and transferred it to the United States.”
The archive includes books, religious texts, photographs and personal documents. Under an agreement with the Government of Iraq, all materials had to be returned to Baghdad.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency