Shared heritage must be saved

The world is all but standing by as Islamic State extremists profit from, vandalise and destroy humanity's cultural legacy. Poor security in Iraq and Syria, widely considered the cradle of Western civilisation, has given the fundamentalist group's fighters easy access to museums and historic sites. In tandem with a campaign to snuff out the lives of those who do not share their beliefs, millennia-old treasures and cities are being obliterated. Governments and multinational organisations have to urgently formulate coordinated strategies to prevent a priceless heritage from being erased.

Unesco, the UN's cultural body, has been sounding alarm bells. Two of its listed world heritage sites in Iraq, 3,000-year-old Nimrud, and 2,000-year-old Hatra, were razed a few weeks ago. A video released a few days earlier by the Islamists of ancient statues and carvings in the museum in Mosul being pushed over and smashed sparked alarm among archaeologists and historians. They were not isolated incidents, but a stepped-up, systematic, effort under way since last July when shrines held dear by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike were demolished. Many artifacts have been looted and sold on the black market to raise funds for the militants' operations.

The UN's secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has called the destruction and looting a war crime. All 191 nations that have ratified Unesco's world heritage convention should be trying to uphold its principles by joining forces to safeguard the sites. But they have so far done little; the US said it was unwilling to put experts on the ground. With one-third of Iraq and Syria controlled by the Islamists and foreign bombing raids and Iraqi troops having limited impact, the outlook seems bleak.

Uncertainty requires that practical measures be promptly taken. Items at risk should be moved to other countries until protection can be assured. Video and photographic records have to be made and itemised lists of property shared internationally to trace smuggled artifacts. Only by working together can the world's cultural heritage be safeguarded.