Plundered treasures seized at Heathrow go on show in Kabul

Dozens of stolen Afghan antiquities have gone on show in Kabul after British customs officials seized them as they were smuggled through Heathrow.

The treasures on display are just some of 2,098 artefacts intercepted in London over the past few years, catalogued, and returned this year.

Known as the "Heathrow collection", they include a 3,000-year-old carved stone head from the Iron Age, gilded bronze bowls and inscribed slabs.

About half of the haul pre-dates the arrival of Islam in Afghanistan, more than 1,000 years ago, and some pieces could be 8,000 years old.

Dr Omara Khan Masoudi, director of the National Museum of Afghanistan, said the opening of the exhibition at the museum was "a time of happiness". With his staff he has spent the past 25 years trying to preserve the institution's masterpieces, managing to save about 90 per cent of them.

None of the Heathrow objects came from the museum - they were excavated illegally from sites around the country. The British Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, said he was "proud of a wide international effort to give Afghanistan back a cultural heritage that was almost erased".

A number of organisations, including the British Museum, the National Geographic Society, the Afghan Red Crescent Society and Unesco, helped.

Dr Masoudi said thieves had taken advantage of years of war to plunder sites around the country. This loss of Afghanistan's cultural heritage was "a sickness that kills us slowly".

Although much of Afghanistan is racked by war, Kabul is relatively safe. Priceless objects are on display in the museum six days a week.