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Top of ancient Iraq minaret blown up
The top of a towering centuries-old spiral minaret in the Iraqi city of Samarra has been blown up, damaging one of the country's prized national treasures.
The top tier of the 52m Malwiya tower was blown off in an attack by fighters, said police Lieutenant Colonel Mahmud Muhammad on Friday.
The explosion left debris on the tower's winding ramps and a jagged hole on the top level, an AFP reporter said. The unique yellow sandstone tower in Samarra, an ancient city on the banks of the Tigris river, was completed in 850 CE by the Islamic Abbasid dynasty.
US troops had been stationed in the tower until two weeks ago. US and Iraqi troops had draped an Iraqi flag from the minaret after retaking Samarra from rebels last October, and locals accused US forces of using it as a sniper position.
The minaret, considered an architectural wonder, was built by Abbasid ruler or Caliph al-Mutawakkli after the dynasty made Samarra the seat of the Islamic world in the 8th century.
Proposal
Iraq proposed that Unesco make the minaret a world heritage site in 2000. Famed British archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler once paid a lavish tribute to the Malwiya minaret. "What matters most about the Samarra minaret is not its formal design, but its startling originality. Strikingly bold and simple in design, functional, elemental, finely proportioned, comfortable to the eye.
"Here we have in the ninth century many qualities which bridge the centuries. The Malwiya is truly a great and rather lonely masterpiece."
Many of Iraq's archaeology sites have been plundered by thieves or damaged by US-led military operations since the US invasion two years ago.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BB039441-AF48-4D96-9FF2-4F9A58142CAD.htm
Iraqi police say an explosion has damaged one of the most important Islamic architectural monuments.
The spiral minaret, in the town of Samarra, is more than 1,000 years old.
Police say insurgents blew up the top section of the 52m (162ft) Malwiya tower, which had been used by US soldiers as a lookout position.
The minaret was built by Caliph al-Mutawakil in 852 when Samarra, a city on the Tigris north of Baghdad, was capital of the Abbasid Empire.
The blast left crumbled brick and clay on the minaret's winding ramps.
Iraq's antiquities officials had expressed concern that US soldiers had also caused significant damage to historic sites in Samarra, including the walls of an ancient palace.
Samarra has been a focal point of the insurgency over the past two years.
Tourist attraction
The spiral minaret is one of Iraq's main tourist attractions and features on Iraqi banknotes.
US troops pulled out of the site last month.
A senior government official told the BBC the Americans should have ensured it was properly protected.
Iraqi antiquities officials have asked for compensation after the walls of an ancient palace in Samarra occupied by the Americans were cracked.
Coalition troops have been heavily criticised for earlier damage done to the ancient site of Babylon which was taken over as a military base.
BBC Baghdad correspondent Caroline Hawley says extensive looting of archaeological sites, particularly in southern Iraq, has also raised serious concerns about the effects of the war on the country's heritage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4401577.stm
The explosion left debris on the tower's winding ramps and a jagged hole on the top level, an AFP reporter said. The unique yellow sandstone tower in Samarra, an ancient city on the banks of the Tigris river, was completed in 850 CE by the Islamic Abbasid dynasty.
US troops had been stationed in the tower until two weeks ago. US and Iraqi troops had draped an Iraqi flag from the minaret after retaking Samarra from rebels last October, and locals accused US forces of using it as a sniper position.
The minaret, considered an architectural wonder, was built by Abbasid ruler or Caliph al-Mutawakkli after the dynasty made Samarra the seat of the Islamic world in the 8th century.
Proposal
Iraq proposed that Unesco make the minaret a world heritage site in 2000. Famed British archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler once paid a lavish tribute to the Malwiya minaret. "What matters most about the Samarra minaret is not its formal design, but its startling originality. Strikingly bold and simple in design, functional, elemental, finely proportioned, comfortable to the eye.
"Here we have in the ninth century many qualities which bridge the centuries. The Malwiya is truly a great and rather lonely masterpiece."
Many of Iraq's archaeology sites have been plundered by thieves or damaged by US-led military operations since the US invasion two years ago.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BB039441-AF48-4D96-9FF2-4F9A58142CAD.htm
Iraqi police say an explosion has damaged one of the most important Islamic architectural monuments.
The spiral minaret, in the town of Samarra, is more than 1,000 years old.
Police say insurgents blew up the top section of the 52m (162ft) Malwiya tower, which had been used by US soldiers as a lookout position.
The minaret was built by Caliph al-Mutawakil in 852 when Samarra, a city on the Tigris north of Baghdad, was capital of the Abbasid Empire.
The blast left crumbled brick and clay on the minaret's winding ramps.
Iraq's antiquities officials had expressed concern that US soldiers had also caused significant damage to historic sites in Samarra, including the walls of an ancient palace.
Samarra has been a focal point of the insurgency over the past two years.
Tourist attraction
The spiral minaret is one of Iraq's main tourist attractions and features on Iraqi banknotes.
US troops pulled out of the site last month.
A senior government official told the BBC the Americans should have ensured it was properly protected.
Iraqi antiquities officials have asked for compensation after the walls of an ancient palace in Samarra occupied by the Americans were cracked.
Coalition troops have been heavily criticised for earlier damage done to the ancient site of Babylon which was taken over as a military base.
BBC Baghdad correspondent Caroline Hawley says extensive looting of archaeological sites, particularly in southern Iraq, has also raised serious concerns about the effects of the war on the country's heritage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4401577.stm
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Iraqis stand atop the damaged ninth-century spiral minaret, one of Iraq's most recognized landmarks, after it was damaged by an explosion in Samarra, Iraq, Friday
This historical landmark is not the first one destroyed under the occupation, and I'm afraid it won't be the last. Al-Jazeera website in Arabic mentioned that the minaret was used by the US army as a sniper base, and it was destroyed today. Whether it was detroyed by the Iraqi resistance or the US occupying army, it is just another sad loss for Iraq, Iraqis, Arabs, and Muslims.
I visited the Malwia many times, and enjoyed the unique view of Samirra from there. This is a full-scale pictures of it.