Iraq has thwarted alleged attempts to smuggle antiquities and rare manuscripts in three provinces, including Baghdad, with six arrests made, security services announced on Monday. Iraq has seen tens of thousands of artefacts looted during decades of war and instability, mostly since the US invasion in 2003. The Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) said in a statement that one person was arrested with five “pharaonic statues” in Al-Rusafa, an administrative district in Baghdad, and another was arrested in Al-Karkh, also in Baghdad, with a “rare gold piece”. Two suspects arrested in the Muthan…