WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Thursday stepped up efforts to cut the sale of antiquities stolen by the Islamic State, filing a civil action to recover looted items that appeared in photographs found during a 2015 U.S. Special Operations raid in Syria.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, marks the first time the U.S. Justice Department has gone to court to seize cultural artifacts the Islamic State holds or once held, U.S. authorities said. The new legal approach comes amid a growing international push to counter black market trading of historical treasures from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The filing steps up pressure on art dealers, auction houses and buyers, and is “a warning to those who traffic in precious antiquities and who seek to profiteer from ISIL’s exploitation of the cultural heritage of areas under its control,” U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District said in a statement.
The government sought the forfeiture of four objects dated to as early as 330 B.C: a gold ring from Deir Ezzor, Syria, two gold Roman-era coins featuring emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, and a stone carving from northern Syria.
The objects were identified in a trove of photographs and documents captured in the first Delta Force ground raid in eastern Syria in May 2015, which resulted in the death of its target, militant leader Abu Sayyaf. That July, the U.S. returned to Iraq hundreds of objects recovered in the raid.
It is not known where the four items cited in the lawsuit are, but photographs and documents found in the raid displayed the four items in a fashion customarily used to present items for sale on the international market, the U.S. alleges. At least one was bought in U.S. dollars, the legal action states.
The lawsuit was brought under a U.S. law that subjects all assets of designated terrorist organizations to forfeiture.
U.S. officials said that other records recovered show how the Islamic State created a sophisticated bureaucratic system for extracting wealth from heritage sites across the Fertile Crescent region — a cradle of human civilization with finds dating to 9,000 B.C.
Sayyaf ran the group’s oil operations in the area, but also referred to himself in documents as president of the group’s Ministry of Natural Resources Antiquities Department, the FBI said. Records show the group awarded excavation permits and receipts of collections under its letterhead, the FBI said.
The group allegedly directed members to steal, sell and transport archaeological objects and to extort and threaten potential competitors.
