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Article: IRAQ - Shi'ite Shrine Remains In Ruins.
- Article from:
- APS Diplomat Operations in Oil Diplomacy
- Article date:
- February 19, 2007
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By Feb. 12, it had been a year by the Islamic calendar since the Feb. 22, 2006, attack on al-Askariya Shrine in Samarra', one of the Shi'ites' most sacred sites, shattered this ancient mosque, ripping a hole in its once glorious dome. Now, it is a hulking shell of its former self, gnarled and twisted metal snaking around the crumbling concrete structure. The blue and gold tiles which adorned the shrine's facade, covered with graceful Arabic script from the Qur'an, are in tatters, the broken pieces still on the ground in the empty courtyard. Not one brick has been moved since the attack.
There has been no rebuilding and no healing. But the blast did not just ...