Secrecy Surrounds former Whereabouts of Ancient Akkadian Seal Stolen from the Duhok Museum in 1991.

                                                

In an apparent attempt to shield the owner of an illicitly-obtained antiquity in British hands, and the path of the object to the UK, British authorities are (again) refusing to reveal who received a visit from the Metropolitan Police Service's Art and Antiques Unit that led to a publicised hooray-feelgood "repatriation ceremony" ('Iraq recovers 4,200-year-old Akkadian seal stolen from Duhok Museum in 1991, 964media.com, 19.11.2025). Glad rags and gala uniforms were worn, canapés and a couple of celebratory bottles of chateau plonk-le-plonk were no doubt consumed in the press room as the usual bla-bla-speeches were performed. But the general public learnt eff-all from this about the international antiquities market (and the other parts of the 1970 UNESCO convention nobody talks about - Art 5f, 6c, 8 [Eight!], 10a and 10b and 13a). How was this item stolen from a museum (in the northermost bit of Iraq, later taken over by the Kurds) that in 1991 was evacuated to Baghdad? From whom, and how, did the British owner acquire it? Why are they not named if they acted in good faith and were duped by culture criminals?