Saddam in the Line of FireThis chrome-plated Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle with Saddam Hussein's image is one of 540 stolen Iraqi artifacts recently returned to the country. The repatriated items—displayed at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital city of Baghdad on Tuesday—include priceless historic treasures, such as gold earrings made for an Assyrian queen and a 4,000-year-old headless statue. More than 30,000 looted Iraqi antiquities and artworks have been confiscated inside and outside the country since 2003, according to the New York Times. But the total number of items that have been stolen from Iraq is anyone's guess, archaeologist Brian Rose told National Geographic News. "We'll never be able to determine how many pieces have been stolen," said Rose, of the University of Pennsylvania, "because many of the pieces were taken clandestinely from archaeological sites." (Related: "Iraq War Threatens Ancient Treasures" [2003].) —Ker Than

Photograph by Karim Kadim, AP