Everyone who worked in the museum has been interrogated by an investigation team set up within days by Gen. Tommy Franks, U.S. commander-in-chief in Iraq. The 14-member team lived on site for several days and apparently assuaged some of [Donny George]'s anger at the U.S. He credits it with tracking down 3,000 artefacts, including 10 of the 42 most valuable pieces.

George says between 700 and 800 items have been found by customs agents in the U.S. Another 500 were seized by police at an airport in France. And 700 have been located in Jordan and taken into safekeeping by its department of antiquities. In Amman, while waiting for a visa into Canada initially denied him, George was able to check on their welfare and ensure their return.

About 14,000 items, however, are still missing, 32 of them on the most-valuable list. Led by the British Museum, an international team of restoration experts will arrive in Baghdad next month to begin the task of repairing the damage. Once that work is under way, George and his colleagues will weigh the merits of an invitation to send an exhibition to the U.S.