LYON, France - INTERPOL has responded to the widespread theft of art and antiquities from Iraqi museums by forming a special incident response team of senior officers to coordinate efforts to locate the missing items and arrest those responsible for the crimes.

Members of the team will travel later this month to Kuwait and other countries in the region to meet with government and law enforcement officials to gather further information and details of what has been stolen. The team will travel to Iraq as soon as this can be arranged with military officials.

INTERPOL has already alerted police in its 181 member countries to make national border guards, customs authorities, art dealers' associations, auction houses, and the wider public aware of the situation.

A special meeting of experts and other interested parties, including representatives of UNESCO, the International Council of Museums and the World Customs Organization, will be held in Lyon on May 5-6. The meeting will devise a common strategy to deal effectively and quickly with the theft of cultural property in Iraq.

'The conflict in Iraq has unfortunately resulted in large scale destruction and theft of the cultural heritage of the country,' said Karl-Heinz Kind, INTERPOL's specialist in the theft of art and antiquities. 'This may have serious consequences for the global cultural heritage.

'INTERPOL is calling on organizations and institutions involved in conservation and trade of antiquities to categorically decline any offers of cultural property originating from Iraq. In case of doubts concerning the origin of certain items, these bodies should immediately contact INTERPOL and seek expert evaluation of what is being offered for sale.'

The theft and illicit export of Iraqi art constitutes a violation of the relevant provisions of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and a 1970 UNESCO convention on illicit trade in cultural property.

INTERPOL has a long history of helping the world's police in the fight against the theft of cultural property, and offers law enforcement agencies a number of information and analysis services to help them solve such crimes. Details of the organization's work in this area, and a special backgrounder, are posted on the INTERPOL website.

INTERPOL was set up in 1923 to facilitate cross-border criminal police cooperation. Today, it is the largest international police organization in the world, with member countries spread over five continents.