'Ancient statues' destroyed by ISIS in Mosul were FAKES - and the originals are safely stored in Baghdad, claims Iraqi museum director

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ISIS jihadis released video showing the destruction of 'ancient' sculptures
But the ancient artifacts destroyed were mostly fake, art expert claims
Director of Baghdad museum says he is looking after authentic versions
Sculptures seen in film were almost all plaster cast replicas, which explains why they crumbled so easily and were held together by iron bars
But two genuine 3,000-year-old statues were destroyed by the terrorists

By John Hall for MailOnline

Published: 11:42 GMT, 16 March 2015 | Updated: 13:53 GMT, 16 March 2015

'Ancient' statues filmed being destroyed by depraved Islamic State militants in a Mosul museum last month were nothing more than worthless fakes, the director of an Iraqi museum has claimed.

The terrorist organisation released shocking footage at the end of February purportedly showing jihadis destroying 3,000-year-old artworks with sledgehammers in their northern Iraqi stronghold.

But now Baghdad museum director Fawzye al-Mahdi has ridiculed ISIS' propaganda exercise, claiming the genuine priceless Assyrian and Akkadian statues and sculptures are still safely in his possession in the Iraqi capital, adding that those in Mosul were plaster cast replicas.





  Sick: The terrorist organisation released shocking footage at the end of February purportedly showing jihadis destroying 3,000-year-old artworks with sledgehammers in their northern Iraqi stronghold

Speaking to German news programme Deutsche Welle, Al-Mahdi said: 'None of the artifacts are originals... They were copies. The originals are all here.'

The museum director's claims appear to back-up those made by experts on the Iraqi statues.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2996859/Ancient-statues-destroyed-ISIS-Mosul-FAKES-originals-safely-stored-Baghdad-claims-Iraqi-museum-director.html#ixzz3UcGTIhvB