Sir John Chilcot Chair, The Iraq Inquiry, 35 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BQ 17 February 2010 By email only [email protected] Dear Sir John, Written submission to the Iraq Inquiry Thank you for your letter of 20 October 2009 (ref I0013) inviting us to submit written evidence to the Iraq Inquiry regarding the problems faced by British forces with respect to safeguarding the cultural heritage in Iraq. Under cover of this letter we enclose herewith a joint submission signed by 13 heritage and culture organisations. We are available to provide oral evidence to the Inquiry if required. Correspondence can be sent to UK National Commission for UNESCO, 3 Whitehall Court, London, SW1A 2EL/[email protected]. Yours sincerely,

Harry Reeves OBE Secretary General UK National Commission for UNESCO

Sir Adam Roberts President, British Academy

Professor Roger Matthews Chairman of Council, British Institute for the Study of Iraq

Dr Mike Heyworth MBE Director, Council for British Archaeology

Professor Friedrich Lüth President, European Association of Archaeologists

Susan Denyer Secretary, International Council on Monuments and Sites, UK

Peter Hinton Director, Institute for Archaeologists

Michael Houlihan Chairman, International Council of Museums UK

Mark Taylor Director, Museums Association

Dame Fiona Reynolds Director General, National Trust

Simon Jenkins Chairman, National Trust

Dr David Gaimster FSA FMA General Secretary and CEO, Society of Antiquaries of London

George Lambrick Chair, Nautical Archaeology Society

Sue Cole Secretary, UK & Ireland Committee of the Blue Shield