ISESCO Invites UNESCO to Take Joint Action to Rescue Human Cultural Heritage in Iraq

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO, a Rabat-based offshoot of the Organization of the Islamic Conference) exhorted UNESCO on Thursday to take an urgent joint initiative to protect human lives being reaped by internationally prohibited weaponry and to preserve human cultural heritage in Iraq.

ISESCO's Director General, Abdulaziz Othman Alwaijri, sent an urgent message to UNESCO's director general, Koichiro Matsuura, proposing that UNESCO and ISESCO send a joint delegation to Iraq, as early as possible, to assess the damage and the loss incurred by the human cultural heritage in Iraq and to appeal for an immediate end to the aggression and the destruction of Iraqi cultural heritage.

ISESCO believes that historical and religious heritage in Iraq is seriously threatened by total destruction as a result of "the fierce war waged by the United States and Britain against the Iraqi people."

"The proposed initiative is based on the provisions of ISESCO Charter and UNESCO constitution, as well as the joint cooperation agreement linking the two sides," stressed ISESCO's director general.