Emirates, UNESCO to reconstruct Mosul’s minaret: Iraqi Ministry

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The United Arab Emirates has launched a project to reconstruct a historical mosque that was destroyed during battles against Islamic State in the city of Mosul, the Iraqi Ministry of Culture said.

In a statement, the ministry indicated a partnership with each of UAE, UNESCO and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) to launch a project on the reconstruction of the Grand Nuri al-Kabir mosque and its leaning minaret in Mosul’s Old City.

The project, according to the statement, “will extend up to five years. It’s a huge project in Iraq, carried out at costs of US$50.4 million.”

In December, Bashar al-Kiki, chairman of the Nineveh Province Council, was quoted saying that a delegation from UNESCO visited the minaret’s site and reviewed the most outstanding needs. News reports quoted sources, in November, as saying that reconstruction process will start in March 2018.

The medieval structure was blown up by Islamic State members in June as Iraqi forces became closer to the recapture of Mosul, which sparked condemnation from world heritage agencies.

It was from that mosque when The group’s supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first appearance in a video him making the sermon proclaiming the establishment of an Islamist “caliphate” in the Old City’s Grand Nuri Mosque in June 2014, and never showed up again.

In July, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in Mosul after defeating IS in the Old City.