Kuwaitis fear Saddam will use historic sites as shields

KUWAIT CITY -- His voice echoes between the cavernous, blackened walls of the Kuwait National Museum. "Can you smell the smoke?" asks Shihab Abdel Hameed-Shihab, who oversees Kuwait's museums.

A dozen years ago, Iraqi troops looted the National Museum during their seven-month invasion, then torched it. Today, on the eve of another war, it remains largely a charred wreck, though a small exhibition hall was reopened in January.

Saddam Hussein had no regard for Kuwait's cultural heritage during his 1990 invasion of this oil-rich emirate -- and Kuwaitis believe he'll show a similar disregard to the treasures of his own country during a U.S.-led attack.

Historians and archeologists say Saddam won't hesitate to use Iraq's historic monuments and archaeological sites as "cultural" shields, hiding weapons and military equipment there and exposing the sites to attack.

In this way, a possible war could wipe out lingering traces of fabled Mesopotamia, birthplace of the world's oldest civilization.

Hameed-Shihab, the head of Kuwait's Department of Museums and Antiquities, said Saddam would likely sacrifice culturally important sites to protect his weapons.

"He is capable of doing it. He did it before," he said in an interview during a tour of the shell of the museum.

During the Kuwait invasion, Iraq hid tanks and weapons among key archaeological sites on Failaka Island off Kuwait's coast, and soldiers built bunkers nearby.

The National Museum, a sprawling complex that housed one of the world's leading Muslim art collections, was one of the first buildings Iraqi forces seized when they stormed over the border.

Saddam's troops plundered about 8,000 pieces, carting off the antiquities in military trucks, Hameed-Shihab said.

"His intention was to erase Kuwait from the map. He wanted to erase our identity," said Kuwaiti archaeologist Ahmed Alshemari.

'They destroyed everything'

At the start of the 1991 Gulf War, retreating Iraqi troops torched the museum complex, including a planetarium. A giant wooden sailing ship, or dhow, a signature piece on the museum's lawn, was incinerated down to only nails.

"I was in shock. It had been like my home. The smoke was so thick, you couldn't breathe. They destroyed everything," Hameed-Shihab said.

U.N. resolutions that ended the Gulf War required Iraq to return looted property. Baghdad has sent back many treasures, but more than 1,000 pieces remain missing, he said.

An archaeologist by profession, Hameed-Shihab is aggrieved that the same wanton destruction could happen in Iraq. "Even in Iraq, no one should touch these antiquities. This is part of human civilization, part of human culture."

Modern-day Iraq was the site of ancient cities and towns that flourished in the fertile crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

It sits atop the ancient kingdoms of Sumer, Assyria and Babylonia. Key landmarks include the hanging gardens of Babylon, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, as well the tower of Babel in central Iraq.

Saddam has spoken with pride about Iraq's historic and cultural heritage, announcing a crackdown in 1998 on antiquities smugglers and calling Iraq's antiquities "the most vital possessions of the state."

Still, Kuwaitis doubt he will spare Iraq's cultural sites, and some fear destruction by U.S. bombs and missiles.

Archaeologists and historians have given U.S. military planners maps and information on some 5,000 important monuments and dig sites in hopes they would be avoided during an attack.

Widespread destruction "could be catastrophic in our ability to understand and construct our past," said Patty Gerstenblith, a professor at DePaul University College of Law who specializes in antiquities law.

"The archaeological and cultural record in Iraq is immeasurable. It is the cradle of civilization," she said.

Though she believes the U.S. military will try to avoid direct hits during a war, looting at ancient sites and monuments in the chaotic aftermath becomes the bigger concern.

"After the war, if there's political instability, then the sites and museums remain at risk. That's where the U.S. has a greater responsibility to provide security," said Gerstenblith.

Washington signed an international treaty that obliges combatants not to target cultural sites and monuments, except when they are near or being used as military installations.

Some worry Saddam may have already begun placing strategic centers near Iraq's cultural sites. His presidential palaces have long been suspected by U.N. weapons inspectors as being hideaways for banned weapons.

During the Gulf War, Saddam reportedly used the Baghdad Museum as a military headquarters and hid equipment near the ancient tombs of Ur in the south of Iraq.

For Hameed-Shihab, who hopes to be able to finish renovating Kuwait's museum by 2006, it would be no surprise if Saddam sabotages his nation's cultural heritage in the looming conflict.

"All countries around the world are in agreement on this -- during invasion, don't touch cultural property. But the Iraqis never respect these things," he said.