LONDON: Mosul’s citizens will need to take part in reconstruction efforts, experts have said.
Back in July 2014, the leader of the Daesh, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, made his infamous appearance in the Great Mosque of Al-Nuri in Mosul to proclaim the creation of the new "caliphate" after his forces had taken over the Iraqi city.
The mosque — which dates back to the 12th century — was later destroyed during fighting between extremist forces and government troops, along with the iconic "leaning" Al-Hadba minaret.
With Mosul now liberated from Daesh forces, efforts are being led by Iraq’s Gulf neighbor, the UAE, along with UNESCO, to rebuild the mosque and tower following a deal agreed on April 23, 2018.
There are plans to restore the site of the mosque, details of which were outlined in an event in London on Monday. Preliminary plans include creating a memorial and a museum on the site of the mosque to document both the history of its recent destruction and its role in Iraqi history over the centuries.
A replica of the minaret is also planned — and after much debate, the tower’s famous "lean" will be recreated. The project will take five years to complete.
It is hoped that the restoration of Mosul’s well-known and revered landmarks will act as a new symbol of unity for a city that continues to be divided by sectarian violence.
“Culture (in Mosul) was directly targeted by Daesh. It was very much part of the warfare strategy of Daesh and how to fragment Iraq,” said Louise Haxthausen, director, UNESCO office for Iraq, on the sidelines of an event in London on Monday.
“Therefore, we believe that cultural heritage, rehabilitation, reconstruction, has to be a key element of building peace and social cohesion and has to be seen as something that unites people,” she told Arab News.
“It is because it is seen as something that unites people that it was destroyed (in the first place) as that is precisely what Daesh didn’t want,” she said.
Noura bin Mohammed Al-Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development in the UAE said during the London event that Daesh had "tainted" the image of Islam, and she emphasized that the rebuilding of the mosque would be a uniting force for Mosul’s people.
“Islam is about coexistence, it is about tolerance,” she said, noting how in the aerial footage of Mosul shown during the talk mosques were situated alongside the city’s churches and synagogues.
“We speak the same language, we share the same culture. There is more to share and there is more in common between us,” she said, explaining why the UAE is stepping in to help with the reconstruction of Iraq.
Yet it is not only the famous sites of Mosul that lie in ruins. People’s homes, shops and restaurants have been reduced to rubble, particularly in the west of the city.
Libraries and other cultural centers were systematically targeted by Daesh, with thousands of books and ancient manuscripts destroyed.
Renad Mansour, research fellow, Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House in London, said at the event that given the extent of the destruction of Mosul, together with the increasingly difficult daily lives of its citizens, reconstruction efforts would be tough.
Corruption would continue to hinder attempts to rebuild the city, he told the event attendees.
“We have had a military victory over Daesh – but we have yet to see a political, economic or structural solution that makes Iraqis convinced that the state represents them or serves their needs. The only way to do that is to bridge that gap between elites and citizens,” Mansour said.
“Putting money and investing through these projects doesn’t seem to work when the structure isn’t sufficient, (when) the cash doesn’t trickle down to the citizens,” he added.
Both Al-Kaabi and Haxthausen said the rebuilding of the mosque and minaret would go beyond just providing “symbolic” hope. It would also provide the city’s young people with much-needed jobs and education.
Both the UAE and UNESCO added that they would work closely with both the locals and Mosul authorities to ensure they have a say in the process.
“We are not going to impose on them how the reconstruction will happen. We are going to be there to help strengthen their capacity to do the reconstruction,” said Haxthausen.
“It is not for UNESCO to decide. This is about Iraq – it is for the Iraqis to take the decision.”
UAE backs restoration of ‘symbolic’ Mosul mosque after destruction by Daesh
UAE backs restoration of ‘symbolic’ Mosul mosque after destruction by Daesh
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- Libraries and other cultural centers were systematically targeted by Daesh, with thousands of books and ancient manuscripts destroyed
- A replica of the minaret is also planned — and after much debate, the tower’s famous "lean" will be recreated
Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee West Bank refugee camps
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- The camps, built for descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled or were driven from their homes in the 1948 war around the creation of the state of Israel, have long been major centers for armed militant groups
JERUSALEM: Tens of thousands of Palestinians living in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank have left their homes as a weeks-long Israeli offensive has demolished houses and torn up vital infrastructure in the heavily built up townships, Palestinian authorities said.
Israeli forces began their operation in the refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Jan. 21, deploying hundreds of troops and bulldozers that demolished houses and dug up roads, driving almost all of the camp’s residents out.
“We don’t know what’s going on in the camp but there is continuous demolition and roads being dug up,” said Mohammed Al-Sabbagh, head of the Jenin camp services committee.
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The operation, which Israel says is aimed at thwarting Iranian-backed militant groups in the West Bank, has since been extended to other camps, notably the Tulkarm refugee camp and the nearby Nur Shams camp, both of which have also been devastated. The camps, built for descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled or were driven from their homes in the 1948 war around the creation of the state of Israel, have long been major centers for armed militant groups. They have been raided repeatedly by the Israeli military but the current operation, which began as a ceasefire was agreed in Gaza, has been on an unusually large scale. According to figures from the Palestinian Authority, around 17,000 people have now left Jenin refugee camp, leaving the site almost completely deserted, while in Nur Shams 6,000 people, or about two thirds of the total, have left, with another 10,000 leaving from Tulkarm camp.
“The ones who are left are trapped,” said Nihad Al-Shawish, head of the Nur Shams camp services committee. “The Civil Defense, the Red Crescent and the Palestinian security forces brought them some food yesterday but the army is still bulldozing and destroying the camp.” The Israeli raids have demolished dozens of houses and torn up large stretches of roadway as well as cutting off water and power, but the military has denied forcing residents to leave their homes.
“People obviously have the possibility to move or go where they want, if they will. But if they don’t, they’re allowed to stay,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
The operation began as Israel moved to banish the main UN Palestinian relief organization UNRWA from its headquarters in East Jerusalem and cut it off from any contact with Israeli officials.
The ban, which took effect at the end of January, has hit UNRWA’s work in the West Bank and Gaza, where it provides aid for millions of Palestinians in the refugee camps.
Israel has accused UNRWA of cooperating with Hamas and said some UNRWA workers even took part in the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that set off the 15-month war in Gaza.
More than one million Syrians return to their homes: UN
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- “Since the fall of the regime in Syria we estimate that 280,000 Syrian refugees and more than 800,000 people displaced inside the country have returned to their homes,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
GENEVA: More than one million people have returned to their homes in Syria after the overthrow of Bashar Assad, including 280,000 refugees who came back from abroad, the UN said on Tuesday.
Assad was toppled in December in a rebel offensive, putting an end to his family’s decades-long grip on power in the Middle Eastern country and bookmarking a civil war that broke out in 2011, with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes.
The Islamist-led rebels whose offensive ousted Assad have sought to assure the international community that they have broken with their past and will respect the rights of minorities.
“Since the fall of the regime in Syria we estimate that 280,000 Syrian refugees and more than 800,000 people displaced inside the country have returned to their homes,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, wrote on the X social media platform.
“Early recovery efforts must be bolder and faster, though, otherwise people will leave again: this is now urgent!” he said.
At a meeting in Paris in mid-February, some 20 countries, including Arab nations, Turkiye, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan agreed at the close of a conference in Paris to “work together to ensure the success of the transition in a process led by Syria.”
The meeting’s final statement also pledged support for Syria’s new authorities in the fight against “all forms of terrorism and extremism.”
Algiers slams French minister’s visit to W. Sahara
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- France’s stance on Western Sahara has been ambiguous in recent years, often straining its ties with Morocco
ALGIERS: Algeria on Tuesday denounced a visit by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati to Western Sahara, after Paris recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory, as “objectionable on multiple levels.”
The vast desert territory is a former Spanish colony largely controlled by Morocco but claimed for decades by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
Dati, who described her visit as “historic,” launched with Moroccan Culture Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid a French cultural mission in the territory’s main city, Laayoune.
An Algerian foreign ministry statement posted on social media Tuesday said the visit “reflects blatant disregard for international legality by a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
“This visit reinforces Morocco’s fait accompli in Western Sahara, a territory where the decolonization process remains incomplete and the right to self-determination unfulfilled,” it said.
Dati’s trip, a first for a French official, “reflects the detestable image of a former colonial power in solidarity with a new one,” the statement added.
The United Nations considers Western Sahara to be a “non-self-governing territory” and has had a peacekeeping mission there since 1991, whose stated aim is to organize a referendum on the territory’s future.
But Rabat has repeatedly rejected any vote in which independence is an option, instead proposing autonomy under Morocco.
France’s stance on Western Sahara has been ambiguous in recent years, often straining its ties with Morocco.
But in July, French President Emmanuel Macron said Rabat’s autonomy plan was the “only basis” to resolve the Western Sahara dispute.
Algeria has backed the separatist Polisario Front and cut diplomatic relations with Rabat in 2021 — the year after Morocco normalized ties with Israel under a deal that awarded it US recognition of its annexation of the Western Sahara.
In October, the UN Security Council called for parties to “resume negotiations” to reach a “lasting and mutually acceptable solution” to the Western Sahara dispute.
In November 2020, the Polisario Front said it was ending a 29-year ceasefire with Morocco after Moroccan troops were deployed to the far south of the territory to remove independence supporters blocking the only road to Mauritania.
The Polisario Front claims the route is illegal, arguing that it did not exist when the ceasefire was established in 1991.
Kurdistan region’s pipeline restart ready to go, foreign minister says
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- Baghdad has periodically withheld the Kurdistan region’s share of the federal budget to try to stop it from exporting oil independently
BAGHDAD: A major pipeline connecting Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to Turkiye is ready to reopen and resume exports, the Kurdish foreign minister said on Tuesday, potentially ending a dispute between Baghdad and Irbil that led to the closure of the pipeline in 2023.
Foreign Minister Safeen Dizayee declined to say when the pipeline would reopen but said it would mark a turning point in relations between Kurdistan and Baghdad.
Iraq’s oil minister said on Monday the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline (ITP) will resume next week.
“All arrangements that were set on the table have been agreed to, with the aim to prepare for re-exports. There shouldn’t be any hiccups. The legal aspects have been met, the technical aspects are in place,” Dizayee told Reuters by phone. “The button just has to be pushed to increase production and then re-export.”
The oil flows were halted by Turkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized pipeline exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.
Negotiations to restart the pipeline have been ongoing, with US officials participating in some of the talks.
Resuming oil exports will boost the Kurdistan region’s budget, Dizayee said.
“This means Kurdistan will benefit from the federal budget and hopefully this will end the saga of (civil servants’) salaries coming or not coming, received in dribs and drabs,” Dizayee said.
Baghdad has periodically withheld the Kurdistan region’s share of the federal budget to try to stop it from exporting oil independently.
Oil producers in the Kurdistan region have had to wind down production without an export route. It will likely take some time for them to restart their oil wells and for the pipeline to use its full capacity. Before it was shut down, it transported around 450,000 barrels per day.
“They’ve invested a lot. It was a risk they took and it must pay off. They [the companies] need assurances that their investment will not be down the drain,” Dizayee said. “Compensation is something that needs to be discussed.”
An international consultancy will be brought in to do an assessment of the cost of production, expenses, cost recovery and the production sharing agreements, he said.