UN chief calls on world to stop destruction of Iraqi sites

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community on March 8 to halt the destruction by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) of Iraqi archaeological sites, branding the smashing of priceless and ancient artifacts a "war crime".
      
Ban's comments came hours after Iraq's tourism and antiquities minister called on the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the militants to try to protect the sites, stating: "We request aerial support."       

The jihadists caused outrage around the world when they bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and smashed artifacts in the Mosul museum.
      
They may now have turned their attention to the extremely well preserved fortress city Hatra, which is more than 2,000 years old and a UNESCO world heritage site, with the United Nations condemning its reported "destruction".
      
"The secretary-general urgently calls on the international community to swiftly put a stop to such heinous terrorist activity and to counter the illicit traffic in cultural artifacts," Ban said in a statement from his spokesman.
      
"The deliberate destruction of our common cultural heritage constitutes a war crime."        

He stressed that the perpetrators must be held to account, and said he was "outraged" by the destruction, citing the Hatra reports.
      
The UN chief echoed a call by Iraq's tourism and antiquities minister, Adel Fahad al-Shershab earlier Sunday.
      
"The sky is not in the hands of the Iraqis, the sky is not in our hands. Therefore, the international community must move with the means it has," Shershab told journalists in Baghdad.
      
"We request aerial support," Shershab said.
      
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