Tuesday, June 26, 2007
UNESCO to help Iraq rebuild al-Askari shrine
Reconstruction
(Reuters) - The United Nations has agreed to help Iraq rebuild the al-Askari shrine in the city of Samarra that was badly damaged in separate attacks last year and earlier this month, UNESCO said on Tuesday. A memorandum of understanding was signed in Jordan on Sunday, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said. A spokesman said $8.4 million had been budgeted for the work, of which $3 million would come from the Iraqi government with the rest coming from UN funds.
The al-Askari Mosque, also known as the Golden Mosque, one of the four major Shi'ite shrines in Iraq, was badly damaged on June 13 in an attack which destroyed two minarets that had survived an earlier attack on Feb. 22, 2006. The bombing of the mosque last year, which wrecked the shrine's famous golden dome but did not damage the minarets, was a turning point for Iraq, unleashing sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams are buried in the Samarra shrine -- Imam Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 and his son, the 11th imam, Hasan al-Askari, who died in 874. Reconstruction work, expected to take 10 months, would begin "as soon as security conditions are guaranteed", the UNESCO statement said. No reconstruction of the shrine has taken place, partly because of disagreements between Shi'ites and Sunnis over how the work will be carried out. The Iraqi government blamed al Qaeda for the 2006 attack.
The al-Askari Mosque, also known as the Golden Mosque, one of the four major Shi'ite shrines in Iraq, was badly damaged on June 13 in an attack which destroyed two minarets that had survived an earlier attack on Feb. 22, 2006. The bombing of the mosque last year, which wrecked the shrine's famous golden dome but did not damage the minarets, was a turning point for Iraq, unleashing sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams are buried in the Samarra shrine -- Imam Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 and his son, the 11th imam, Hasan al-Askari, who died in 874. Reconstruction work, expected to take 10 months, would begin "as soon as security conditions are guaranteed", the UNESCO statement said. No reconstruction of the shrine has taken place, partly because of disagreements between Shi'ites and Sunnis over how the work will be carried out. The Iraqi government blamed al Qaeda for the 2006 attack.
Labels: Al-Askari Mosque, reconstruction, Samarra, UNESCO
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Al-Maliki fires Basrah police chief
Security, Politics
(RFE/RL) - According to informed sources, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fired Al-Basrah police chief Major General Ali Hammadi al-Musawi on June 18 over the failure of his forces to end attacks on Sunni mosques in the city, international media reported the same day. An official in the office of Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the firing, but declined to elaborate, saying only that replacing al-Musawi is part of the restructuring of the Iraqi police force.
However, an unnamed police source said al-Musawi was "seen as incompetent, because he couldn't stop attacks by Shi'ite extremists against two Sunni mosques [in Al-Basrah] in the wake of the Samarra attacks." On June 15, gunmen wearing Interior Ministry commando uniforms blew up the Talhah bin Ubaydallah shrine and on June 16, a car bomb destroyed the Al-Ashrah Al-Mubashra Mosque. The wave of attacks against Sunni mosques is widely believed to be in response to the June 13 attack on the Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, a revered Shi'ite shrine.
Labels: Al-Ashrah Al-Mubashra Mosque, Al-Askari Mosque, Basra, Major General Ali Hammadi al-Musawi, Nouri Al-Maliki, Talhah bin Ubaydallah shrine
