The meeting had the following 3 objectives:

• To coordinate the international scientific network of experts on Iraqi cultural heritage
• To formulate guidelines for a consolidated strategy in the field of post-conflict intervention and rehabilitation of the cultural heritage of Iraq
• To devise an emergency safeguarding plan.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Professor McGuire Gibson (Oriental Institute, Chicago), Dr. Neil MacGregor (Director of the British Museum, London), and Prof. Selma Al-Radi (University of New York) who facilitated the three working sessions. A number of short- and long-term recommendations were announced to the press following the meeting.

With the approval and the assistance of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), UNESCO proposed that a fact-finding mission should take place in early May under UNESCO coordination. It should be a multidisciplinary mission composed of archaeologists and specialists in historic buildings and monuments, museum collections and archives.