UNESCO sets date for reconstruction of historic mosque destroyed by ISIS in Mosul

by **claud39** Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:19 pm

[rtl]UNESCO sets date for reconstruction of historic mosque destroyed by ISIS in Mosul[/rtl]

9/11/201 20:45

UNESCO sets date for reconstruction of historic mosque destroyed by ISIS in Mosul Story_img_5d7932f92c648

[rtl]The reconstruction of the al-Nuri mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul, destroyed by ISIS in 2017, will begin early next year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Wednesday.[/rtl]

[rtl]The timetable for the reconstruction of the 12th-century mosque was agreed at a meeting in Paris between UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and a number of Iraqi officials, including Iraqi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Abdul Amir al-Hamdani and the governor of Nineveh Mansour al-Maraid.
The reconstruction plan, announced for the first time in 2018, will be the highlight of a UNESCO-led $ 100 million project to rebuild Mosul's heritage.
The revival of Mosul is the largest reconstruction plan in Iraq's history and comes two years after the city was destroyed by extremists.
"Today we have agreed on the timetable. The exact dates and the start of the implementation of the action plan on the ground in Iraq," Audrey Azoulay was quoted as saying.
"The current phase of structural support work and the crucial phase of mine clearance and demining will take place between now and the end of the year," she said.
In 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared on the minbar of the mosque, known for its sloping minaret, the Hadba, before ISIS extremists blew it up in June 2017 as Iraqi forces approached.
The decision to choose Mosul for the reconstruction project instead of other Iraqi cities is due to its historical status, which made it a melting pot of civilization.
"We chose Mosul as a symbol," Mosul said.
Azoulay stressed that she had asked for a portion of the $ 100 million to rebuild a synagogue and Christian religious sites.[/rtl]

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