BAGDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said on Saturday that his government had signed a contract to rebuild the bombed Shia Al Askari shrine in the northern town of Samarra. A first attack on the shrine in February 2006 destroyed its golden dome and sparked savage sectarian violence which continues to this day. The shrine was bombed for a second time last Wednesday.
During his meeting with visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Maliki said ‘we have signed a contract with UNESCO to immediately reconstruct the shrine,’ according to a statement from his office quoting him. Many Shia leaders had criticised Maliki’s government for the delay in reconstructing the shrine after the February attack, especially radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.
The statement issued by MalikiÂ’s office on Saturday however did not say what role the United Nations cultural and educational body would play in the reconstruction.
| The UN will supervise the reconstruction from .. Paris. They'll handle the catering, the ordering of Toyota land cruisers and the sex industry workers. |
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