Pakistan Struggles With Smuggled Buddhist Relics

[littlemissmartypants]

Source: AP

Lacking the necessary cash and manpower, Pakistan is struggling to stem the flow of millions of dollars in ancient Buddhist artifacts that looters dig up in the country's northwest and smuggle to collectors around the world.

The black market trade in smuggled antiquities is a global problem that some experts estimate is worth billions of dollars per year. The main targets are poor countries like Pakistan that possess a rich cultural heritage but don't have the resources to protect it.

The illicit excavations rob Pakistan of an important potential source of tourism revenue, as valuable icons are spirited out of the country, and destroy any chance for archaeologists to document the history of the sites.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-struggles-smuggled-buddhist-relics-17393380#.UG25202HKHg

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"What is on my mind?" this little box is asking me and my answer is the lost history of a world unknown. Help me find it. Please sign the petition and ask all of those you know to sign it. Thank you. http://www.change.org/petitions/president-hamid-karzai-prevent-destruction-of-ancient-site-of-mes-aynak-the-environmental-damage-3

LMSP, FB