Archaeologists descended upon three sites in Southern Iraq rumoured to contain antiquities

Professor John Malcolm Russell's personal connection to the objects left him well placed to recognise them in images from sales

In a lecture given at London's Institute of Archaeology, Dr Lamia al Galiani-Werr drove home the urgency of the issue

More than 4,000 museum items missing according to Director General of the Iraqi Antiquities Department

Follows disappearance of jewels, manuscripts

As US troopers praise the Lord, reports of damage in Iraq remain unconfirmed

Attack on ziggurat stopped by unknown American officer

Unlike in World War II, no commission exists to advise the military