Iraq Lays Cornerstone To Restore Al-Nuri Mosque, As Mosul Rebuilds
Source: NPR
December 17, 20186:28 AM ET
Iraqi religious leaders marked the start of an effort to restore the iconic al-Nuri mosque in a ceremony yesterday in Mosul, another sign of the city's recovery after years of Islamic State occupation and months of fighting that flattened entire city blocks.
Abdulateef al-Humayim, president of the Sunni Endowment in Iraq, which maintains Sunni mosques and shrines, led the proceedings on Sunday. With dignitaries from the European Union and the United Nations in attendance, al-Humayim set the first stone in place for the foundation of the mosque.
UNESCO Iraq representative Louise Haxthausen spoke at the ceremony, calling the mosque's destruction "a moment of horror and despair," according to The National, an English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi.
The U.N. and Iraq announced plans to rebuild the Great Mosque of al-Nuri last April in partnership with the United Arab Emirates, an effort UNESCO has called "the largest and [most] unprecedented cooperation to rebuild cultural heritage in Iraq ever." The U.A.E. is contributing over $50 million toward the undertaking.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/677291063/iraq-lays-cornerstone-to-restore-al-nuri-mosque-as-mosul-rebuilds?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news