Iraq to rebuild historic mosque destroyed by IS

Baghdad, June 23: Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the historic al-Nuri mosque and its leaning minaret in Mosul will be rebuilt after liberating the city from the Islamic State (IS) militants "in a few days"."We will move to reconstruct the archaeological sites that were destroyed by the terrorist Daesh (IS militant group) in al-Hadbaa (minaret in al-Nuri mosque), Nimrud and Hatter (archaeological sites)," Abadi said at a press conference on Thursday after his weekly cabinet meeting, Xinhua news agency reported."The bombing of al-Nuri mosque and the Hadbaa minaret represents a declaration of the end of Daesh organization, and we will rebuild them because it is human heritage not only for Iraqis," Abadi said.Abadi also said, "there are only a few areas left from Mosul, and its complete liberation is a matter of a few days."Abadi s comments came a day after IS group bombed al-Nuri mosque in the center of the old city in the western side of Mosul, as Iraqi forces were pushing towards the al-Nuri mosque and the surrounding areas, amid fierce house-to-house battles in some alleys near the mosque.The mosque, built in 1172 A.D. with its famous leaning minaret, gave the city its nickname "al-Hadbaa" or "the hunchback." It has a symbolic value, as it was the place where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the cross-border "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria in his sole public appearance in July 2014.A few hours after the bombing of the mosque, Abadi said: "blowing up the al-Nuri mosque and the al-Hadba Minaret is an official declaration of defeat by the Islamic State".Abadi also revealed in Thursday s press conference that the loss caused by the destruction of Iraq s infrastructure by IS group in Iraqi cities reached to over $100 billion.