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April 3, 2009
Posted: 1548 GMT
From Mohammed Tawfeeq BAGHDAD – It took me a week to get the permission letter for CNN to cover the National Museum story. Fred our correspondent, Ben the cameraman and I went directly to the halls where the artifacts are on display. There we met a class from a local girls' school and many of the 12 to 15 year old pupils were taking a tour of the museum for the first time. CNN's Fred Pleitgen filed this story. Mohammed Tawfeeq/CNN. Iraqi schoolgirls discover their National Museum.
The museum used to display some of the world's most important ancient artifacts in 20 halls, but many of the priceless pieces were looted in April 2003 after the coalition invaded Baghdad and now only eight halls are open to the public. According to Museum officials some 15,000 irreplaceable artifacts were stolen – only about 6,000 have been recovered. Mohammed Tawfeeq/CNN. CNN Correspondent Fred Pleitgen and Cameraman Ben Adams during the shoot
We spent almost three hours in the museum to get beauty shots of the artifacts and other elements that we needed for the story. Every time I entered a hall it was like a journey back in time. I remember how busy Iraq’s National Museum was in 1989 when I first visited it with my family. This Museum was considered to somehow embody Iraq’s national identity and we were all very proud of our history spanning many ages from the Ashurian kings to the Islamic era. Mohammed Tawfeeq/CNN
All that came back to me as we were filming. I hadn’t been to the museum in years because it was closed after the looting. But now it seemed like only yesterday I was walking the halls with amazement gripping my father’s hand. I could see the same amazement and awe on the faces of the young ladies from the school, now gazing at the historical treasures for the first time in their lives. Mohammed Tawfeeq/CNN.
The school girls kept asking the Museum’s guide questions about the artifacts and I could see that they wanted to know more and more. One of the girls said to me “I wish I could have visited the Iraqi National museum years ago , I do not like reading about history, but now, after seeing all of these amazing artifacts and the great stories behind them I will definitely read more about the ancient history of Iraq.” Mohammed Tawfeeq/CNN
Our reporter Frederik Pleitgen interviewed one of the school girls and asked her about her first experience in the museum. I could tell how proud she was of the museum, but also of this country that brought the world such amazing civilizations, a fact often forgotten with daily reports of violence and killings. We spent more than three hours in the museum, but to me it felt like time was just flying by. And our cameraman Ben seemed to feel the same way, as the staff asked us to leave because they needed to close the building, he argued for more time, because he wanted to get as many shots of the artifacts as possible. Ben probably could have gone on filming for days. When I left the museum I felt happy to see the new generation able to visit the museum once again. Maybe it will help Iraqis understand that we are not Sunni or Shia, Christian or Kurd, but that we are Iraqis and have done great things for mankind. Posted by: IME Producer
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