Saudi: Saudi Arabia has returned a batch of 250 historic documents to neighbouring Iraq.
Saudi National Heritage Deputy Chief Rostom bin Maqbul Al Qubaisi handed over the documents to Iraqi Ambassador to Riyadh Dr Qahtan Taha Khalaf.
The hand over took place at the National Museum, which is located at the King Abdulaziz Historic Centre in Riyadh.
The documents were found with an Arab expatriate, who obtained them illegally and posted some of them on the internet.
The documents which date back to the 1940s are the property of the Iraqi Foundation of Books and Manuscripts. Most of them are relating to the royal family which was ruling Iraq then.
The Interior Ministry confiscated the documents and took the necessary measures to return them to their country of origin, in coordination with the Saudi Foreign Ministry and Public Prosecution.
This is the third time Saudi Arab returns cultural properties to Iraq, after handing over artefacts to Baghdad in 2009 and 2010 – in compliance with international covenants.
The Saudi step is also in accordance with the Paris-based UNESCO-Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, dating back to 1970.