Iraq lays cornerstone to rebuild iconic Mosul mosque

Published December 17, 2018
MOSUL: Abdul Latif Al-Humaym (left), the head of Sunni endowments in all of Iraq (second right), places the cornerstone for the rebuilding of Al Nuri Mosque during a ceremony on Sunday. The Great Mosque of Al Nuri and the remains of 
Al Hadba (left) leaning minaret.—AFP
MOSUL: Abdul Latif Al-Humaym (left), the head of Sunni endowments in all of Iraq (second right), places the cornerstone for the rebuilding of Al Nuri Mosque during a ceremony on Sunday. The Great Mosque of Al Nuri and the remains of Al Hadba (left) leaning minaret.—AFP

MOSUL: Iraqis on Sunday laid the cornerstone in rebuilding Mosul’s Al-Nuri mosque and leaning minaret, national emblems destroyed last year in the ferocious battle against the so-called Islamic State group.

The famed 12th century mosque and minaret, dubbed Al-Hadba or “the hunchback”, hosted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s only public appearance as IS chief, when he declared a self-styled “caliphate” after the jihadists swept into Mosul in 2014.

The structures were ravaged three years later in the final, most brutal stages of the months-long fight to rid Iraq’s second city of IS.

On Sunday, dozens of government officials, religious figures, United Nations representatives and European ambassadors gathered in the large square in front of the battered mosque to see the foundation laid.

Abdullatif Al-Humaym, the head of Sunni Muslim endowments in Iraq, set down the stone in a simple ceremony. It bore a black Arabic inscription: “This cornerstone for the rebuilding and restoration of the Al-Hadba minaret and the Great Al-Nuri Mosque was laid on December 16, 2018.”

More than a year after IS lost control of Mosul, the iconic mosque still lies in ruins. The stone gate leading up to its courtyard and the greenish dome now covered in graffiti are virtually the only parts still erect. All that is left of the minaret is part of its rectangular base, the rest of it sheared off by fighting.

Abu Bakr Kenaan, head of Sunni Muslim endowments in Nineveh province, told AFP remnants of the minaret would be preserved, while other parts of the mosque would be built afresh, along with a museum about its history and adjacent homes.

The five-year project will be financed by a $50.4 million donation from the UAE.

The mosque takes its name from Nureddin al-Zinki, who ordered it built in 1172 after unifying Syria and parts of northern Iraq.

Its cylindrical minaret, which featured several levels of ornamental brickwork capped by a small white dome, started listing centuries ago. It is featured on Iraq’s 10,000-dinar banknote and gave its name to countless restaurants, companies and even sports clubs.

But in June 2014, it became infamous as the site where Baghdadi declared IS’s “caliphate” just days after the jihadists seized Mosul in a lightning assault. That capture prompted three years of ferocious fighting to wrest back Mosul and other Iraqi cities overrun by IS.

In June 2017, as Iraqi forces closed in on a shrinking IS-held pocket in Mosul’s Old City, the jihadists blew up both the Al-Nuri mosque and its leaning minaret. IS itself blamed a US-led strike for the destruction.

When the rest of the Old City fell back under state control, Iraqi forces celebrated at the mosque, holding IS’s black flag upside down and tauntingly calling out, “Where is Baghdadi?”

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.