This letter to the Prime Minister follows the conference held at the British Museum. In it, Tessa Jowell reports on the progress made towards ensuring the security of Iraq’s cultural heritage and beginning helping the Iraqis protect and conserve their museum collections and archaeological sites.

She points towards the growing concern about Iraqi artefacts leaving the country through unprotected borders which necessitated continuing the work to control the art market. As UNESCO would be attempting to place a selective embargo on the movement of Iraqi cultural property, she pointed out that the UK would be supportive of this step. Jowell had also taken other measures to improve the situation. For example, the Private Members Bill “Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Bill” had been hastened which would make the trade in objects unlawfully removed from another country illegal.

Lastly, Jowell flags that the primary risk at that time in this matter is the tension between the US and the wider international heritage community embodied by UNESCO. At the British Museum conference, it had become clear that the people from Iraq preferred working with the British Museum-led and UNESCO-sponsored alliance of museums. She envisioned that Britain could play a good role in resolving this tension.