SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) — Builders on Tuesday began restoring a revered Shiite Muslim shrine in northern Iraq two years after it was badly damaged in a bombing that unleashed a wave of bitter sectarian violence.
Around 60 workers began digging through the rubble under the golden dome of the thousand-old Al-Askari mosque in Samarra, 125 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad that was destroyed by Al-Qaeda bombers.
The attack on the Shiite pilgrimage site in the largely Sunni city is widely regarded as the tipping point at which rivalry between Iraqi rival Muslim sects turned into a brutal sectarian conflict which left tens of thousands dead.
The two distinctive minarets of the shrine to Imam Al-Askari were destroyed in a second bombing in June last year, further igniting passions in a conflict that is only now beginning to ebb.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in a statement in Baghdad said the rebuilding of the mosque was a "blow to all those who want to stoke sectarian violence and drive Iraq towards civil war".
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has helped in the reconstruction efforts.
Mohamed Djelid, director of UNESCO's Iraq office, said the Iraqi government was financing the project and was "determined to transform Samarra into a city that deserves to be registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site."
Iraq's National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie warned that the building project could take many years to complete.
The mosque houses the remains of the 10th and 11th imams -- Ali al-Hadi and Hassan al-Askari -- buried in the house where they died in the ninth century and around which the shrine was built.
Both are venerated by Shiites as direct descendants of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed and inheritors of his leadership mantle.
Most Shiites believe that a hidden 12th imam, who disappeared at a young age around the same time, will one day reveal himself in Samarra as the champion of the righteous in a battle at the end of the world.
The massive golden dome, about 20 metres (66 feet) high and with a diameter of 68 metres (223 feet), was added in 1905. It was covered in 72,000 gold pieces and surrounded by walls of light blue tiles.
The mosque has been closed since the attack on February 22, 2006, and the city's skyline is still disfigured.
US and Iraqi officials blamed the bombing on a local man named Haitham al-Badri whom they say is a member of Al-Qaeda, but many in Samarra accuse outsiders of coming to cause trouble in their city.
A government official, requesting anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the project, told AFP that restoration work had been delayed because "there are a lot of threats against people working on this project."
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
