Damascus, (SANA)- The Syrian Customs Department agents at al-Tanf Syrian-Iraqi crossing border pint thwarted an attempt to smuggle Iraqi ruins into Syria and then abroad.

The Customs Department said in a statement that a man was arrested for trying to smuggle an archeological building column date to the Abbasid Period. It added that the confiscated article was sent to the General Directorate of Ruins and Antiquities.

Director General of the Customs Department Nabil al-Sayyouri told SANA staff writer that preserving Iraqi ruins were an important matter for Syria, adding that Iraq represented one of the most significant elements of the region's history and memory.

It is the forth time an attempt to smuggle Iraqi ruins via the border had been thwarted this year.

Syrian Ministry of Culture had sent back to Iraq 751 smuggled ruins and antiquities last April after they were confiscated in Syria.

Ahmad Fathi ZAHRA