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Clothing, china taken from homes Stolen art turns up at U.S. border Apr. 23, 2003 Fighters of the group have been caught repeatedly while looting
homes in an enclave in Baghdad where members of Saddam's Baath party
lived, said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Bryce Ivings, of Sarasota, Fla.
Yesterday, soldiers from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry
Regiment, detained four suspected looters dressed in the group's
desert camouflage uniforms and carrying rocket-propelled grenades,
Ivings said. The men, who did not speak English, were taken to a
prisoner-of-war detention centre.
Less than an hour later, another patrol found four other fighters
— in uniform, but unarmed — carrying away china, glassware and
clothing from empty houses, said Sgt. Jason Letterman. They were not
held, but were told to cease looting.
"They said they were only stealing from houses belonging to
Saddam's bodyguards," Letterman said. "We told them we can't
let them steal stuff from anyone.''
Some of the self-styled "Free Iraqi Forces" were trained,
uniformed and brought to Iraq by the U.S. military to help U.S.
troops. They are the military wing of the U.S.-backed Iraqi National
Congress led by Chalabi, an exile who enjoys strong support from the
Pentagon.
In Washington, U.S. law enforcement officials said stolen art and
artifacts looted from Iraq's museums have begun to move on worldwide
markets. The Customs Service at the U.S. border has stopped at least
two pieces of art believed to have been stolen.
Customs officials declined to comment on the investigation.
And the FBI's stolen art department has begun to pick up
information from contacts in an elite group of international buyers
and sellers specializing in Mesopotamian, Asian and Middle Eastern
art.
Lynn Chaffinch, manager of the FBI's art theft program, said
several contacts have reported hearing about priceless items being
transported across Middle Eastern countries.
Star's Wire Services
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