Houthi leaders have been involved in looting 4,800 Yemeni artifacts during 2021
English - Tuesday 25 May 2021 الساعة 10:43 am
Aden, NewsYemen:
Workers in the antiquities, museums and manuscripts sector revealed, in Sana'a, that leaders of the Houthi militia continue to loot and smuggle Yemeni antiquities from the militia’s control areas.
They said that prominent Houthi leaders (belonging to Saada), since the beginning of this year, have escaped more than 4,800 antique pieces and manuscripts, dating back hundreds of years, to Iran, Lebanon and other countries after they were stolen from museums and archaeological sites under the group’s control, according to the Al Sharq website. Middle.
Workers at the General Authority of Antiquities in Sana'a stated that these leaderships have intensified their activities in stealing, smuggling and selling antiquities and manuscripts from cities under the militia’s control, in addition to buying others from brokers and smugglers and then smuggling them to Iranian destinations.
According to the sources, prominent Houthi leaders in Sanaa are still in possession of artifacts, including large and small bronze statues, inscriptions, gold and silver coins, copper amulets, stone tablets, arrow heads, and others.
The sources talked about the continuation of local archeology experts working according to Houthi directives in searching and excavating more manuscripts and ancient monuments in dozens of mosques and historical sites in both Old Sana'a and the cities of "Shibam Kawkaban" in Al Mahwit, Zabid in Al Hudaydah, Jiblah in Ibb, Al Jand in Taiz, and other sites located within the scope of control. The Houthis.
The workers renewed the warning against the continuation of the Houthi series of bulldozing of what remains of the ancient monuments and manuscripts, and at the same time revealed the existence of a close link between the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hassan Erlo, who was impersonated as an ambassador to Yemen, and the organized tampering that these militias are doing against what It remains from the historical repository of Yemen.
They pointed out that the repeated visits of Hassan Erlo, accompanied by a prominent Houthi leadership, to the old city of Sana'a exposes all the Iranian Houthi intentions, and confirms that they are continuing to loot more Yemeni artifacts and manuscripts.
In the middle of the year before last, sources working in the Antiquities Authority in Sana’a accused the Houthi militias of looting hundreds of ancient archaeological objects, pieces, inscriptions and manuscripts from inside the National Museum in Sana’a, in the middle of the year before last.
At the time, it indicated that Houthi leaders transferred a number of these pieces from the museums of Sana'a to places where they reside, with the knowledge, supervision and follow-up of officials of the Antiquities and Museums Authority.
