THE SITE OF BABYLON is to remain closed until damage to it has been assessed:

Babylon to remain closed until damage known
Mon Jan 17, 2005 06:35 PM GMT

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Babylon -- home to one of the seven wonders of the world -- will remain closed until experts determine how much damage foreign forces had done to the site, Iraq's culture minister says.

A British Museum report published at the weekend said U.S. and Polish troops had damaged the ancient city, fabled home of the Hanging Gardens, by setting up a military base among the ruins in April 2003 after the invasion of Iraq.

"We want to know the full facts about Babylon's condition," Culture Minister Mofeed al-Jazaeri told a news conference on Monday.

"Babylon will stay closed until an international team is formed to determine the damage, document it and recommend what should be done to restore the city."

And the Poles have responded further to the charges:

Earlier on Monday, Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said that contrary to the British Museum report, the presence of foreign troops in Babylon had saved it.

"If it wasn't for the Americans, Babylon would have been looted like all other museums in Iraq ... and we would now be buying back Babylon artefacts on bazaars and markets," he said.

Szmajdzinski told public radio Jedynka local authorities and archaeologists were consulted over all decisions affecting ancient sites at the base.

"Surely mistakes were made at the beginning, but nobody knows what Babylon was like before the Americans took over. Since arriving, we have carried out full documentation of the site," he said.

The Polish Culture Ministry will soon issue a 500-page report on Babylon, he added.

I have not yet been able to find a U.S. response beyond what I cited in the update to yesterday's post.