(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) US Secretary of State John Kerry will highlight the destruction of "irreplaceable cultural heritage taking place in Iraq and Syria at the hands of violent extremists such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the Syrian regime.
The event will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday amid UN General Assembly week in the presence of Director of the Museum Thomas Campbell, according to a statement by the State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki on Sunday.
"As the United States responds to the violence in Iraq and Syria that has destroyed millions of lives and caused enormous suffering to the region's people, we also remain deeply concerned about the destruction of cultural heritage in these areas of tragic conflict.
"Ancient treasures have now become casualties of continuing warfare and looting, and are targets for destruction," the statement said.
"Historic monuments and archaeological sites of the world, which enrich modern societies by connecting all of us to our cultural origins and informing our identities, must be preserved," it added.
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