(20 Jan 2002)
Balkh (20km west of Mazar-i-Sharif), Northern Afghanistan, Jan 16, 2002, ALL APTN
1. Wide of horsedrawn carriage passing by ancient walls of Balkh
2. Mid shot ancient temple
3. Skull laying on ground in front of wall
4. Horses grazing in front of old walls of ruins of city
5. Various diggers searching for antiquities
6. One of diggers showing old ceramic plate
7. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Nasir , Digger
"These are drought years and people like us are suffering and we can't afford to fee dour families. So that's why we're here digging up antiquities to sell them to provide for our families."
8. Wide shot of digging
9. Digger climbing into tunnel in the ground
10. Tight shot of digger sifting through dirt looking for coins
11. Various digging
12. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Saleh Mohamad, Chief of Police for Balkh city
"I personally know that people have found 50 or as many as a 100 gold coins and when one of the diggers that finds something that's valuable like that they escape from the country with it because. if the local warlords or commanders find out that these people have kept these anquities, the warlords demand that they will hand it over or they will kill them."
13. Various digging
London, Jan 16, 2002
14. SOUNDBITE : (English) Burzine Waghmar, Afghan art expert, School of Oriental and African Studies London
"Balkh is known to the Greeks as the mother of all cities. It is of immense importance to the history of Afghanistan. This province in north central Afghanistan has seen several cultures come and go. Starting not only with the Alexander invasion as we know it but harking back to almost the middle and later bronze age. It as seen several invasions from the Bimack period on right to the Arabs, when we come to the full light of early medevial history. It has has several influences of cultures which lead to highly idiosyncratic forms of literature and arts in the region."
15. Cutaway television
16. SOUNDBITE : (English) Burzine Waghmar, Afghan art expert, School of Oriental and African Studies London
"Dealers or others would distribute the pieces as and when the demand is required, both in the east and the west. When I say east I mean Japan, because we know that japanese collectors will pay exorbitant prices for afghan artificats, and they have been doing so for the last decade and half. In the west it could be, not just the UK where of course private dealers would purchase and deals would be struck, but also in the US and on the continent in Switzerland. "
Balkh (20km west of Mazar-i-Sharif), Northern Afghanistan, Jan 16, 2002
17. Inside house of one of diggers which shows looter showing off ceramics (which he claims are several thousand years old)
18. Various pots and pitchers
19. Close up two old coins (which looter says off camera are a thousand years old)
STORYLINE:
The pillaging of the ancient Afghan city of Balkh has begun again.
Since the fall of the Taliban, scores of local Afghans have been digging in this city's historic ruins in hopes of finding an ancient treasure or valuable piece of art which they can sell.
Mostly they find far less valuable coins and pieces of pottery, some dating back thousands of years.
The looters said on Wednesday they simply wanted to eke out a living from what they found in Balkh, a city that is thousands of years old, and was a key part of central Asian history.
These men are finding pieces of ceramic plates that they say they can sell for up to 100 (US) dollars.
They say they sell them to local buyers who take it out of the country to the West.
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