The US Senate voted on Wednesday to ban the import of virtually all ancient art and artifacts from Syria, to discourage the looting and trafficking of illicit objects by the Islamic State and other armed groups.
The Senate voted by unanimous consent. The bill’s provisions would fulfill commitments the United States supported at the United Nations Security Council more than a year ago, to try to choke off imports and international trade of so-called blood antiquities that the Islamic State, the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda and other groups use to help finance their military operations in Syria and Iraq.
