2025-09-01T08:31:36+00:00
font
Enable Reading Mode
A-
A
A+
Shafaq
News – Mosul (Updated at 15:42)
Mosul’s
historic landmarks, including the Great Al-Nuri Mosque with its leaning
Al-Hadba Minaret and the churches of Al-Saa’a and Al-Tahira, officially
reopened on Monday after years of reconstruction under UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of
Mosul initiative.
Prime
Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani arrived in the city to attend the opening
ceremony alongside a high-level Iraqi and Kurdish delegations as well as UN officials and an Emirati delegation led by Minister of Culture
Salem bin Khalid Al-Qasimi.
According to Shafaq News correspondent, PM al-Sudani performed the noon
prayer inside the mosque following the completion of restoration works.
In his speech, al-Sudani hailed the reconstruction as “a great victory
over black terrorism,” adding that the mosque and its minaret “stand tall once
again, a reminder to enemies of Iraq’s strength against destruction.”
Kurdish Interior Minister Reber Ahmed stressed that terrorism had sought
to extinguish “the light of Mosul” by targeting religious and cultural
landmarks, but “what was destroyed in stone was never erased from people’s
memory or their conscience.” He commended the sacrifices of Iraqi forces,
including the Peshmerga, in liberating the city from ISIS, and underlined the
importance of rejecting divisions while strengthening coexistence and civil
peace.
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Dr. Mohamed Al Hassan, said in his remarks at the inauguration of the Al-Nuri Grand Mosque in Mosul that “through the reopening of the…
— UNAMI (@UNIraq) September 1, 2025
Former UAE Minister of Culture and current member of the UAE Cabinet,
Noura Al Kaabi, considered the occasion as proof of resilience. “Today, the
mosque and Al-Hadba return stronger and more alive, a testament to Mosul’s
ability to overcome hardships and rise again,” she noted.
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Mohamed El
Hassan, underlined the global significance of the event, stressing that “through the reopening of the Al-Nuri Grand Mosque, the City of Mosul is declaring to the world the triumph of the will to live over the culture of death, and the victory of hope over .”
UNESCO Deputy Director-General Xing Qu highlighted Mosul’s enduring
identity as a model of cultural and religious diversity, where Muslims,
Christians, Jews, Yazidis, and Turkmen had lived together for centuries. He noted that the initiative has included rebuilding over 120 homes,
restoring churches, and reviving economic and cultural life in the Old City.
The Revive
the Spirit of Mosul initiative was launched by UNESCO in 2018 after 80 percent
of the Old City was left in ruins during ISIS’s three-year occupation and the
battle for liberation in 2017. Mosul, whose name means “the linking point” in
Arabic, had long been a crossroads of civilizations where Muslim and Christian
communities coexisted.
As part of
the initiative, UNESCO rebuilt the Al-Nuri Mosque and its Al-Hadba Minaret, the
Convent of Our Lady of the Hour, Al-Tahira Church, Al-Aghawat Mosque, about 120 heritage houses, and the Al-Ekhlass school. It also opened cultural spaces such
as FilmLab, relaunched literary and music festivals, and rehabilitated
classrooms under a program aimed at preventing violent extremism through
education.
