Iraq rejects Iran assistance to rebuild holy cities

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraqi interim government officials said Sunday they have rejected an Iranian offer to reconstruct destroyed sections of holy shrines in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

A newspaper As-Sabah Al-Jadid (the new dawn) quoted director general of public relations in Shia Endowment Department Salah Abdur Razzaq as saying that the government refused the offer to protest Iran's role in recent clashes in Holy Najaf.

He said: “There are hardline parties and personalities in Iran that circulated violence in Iraq.”

Iraqi officials recently said they had evidence showing Tehran was involved in intelligence activities and supporting terrorist groups inside Iraq.

After Najaf peace plan agreement, Iraqi defense minister Hazem Ash-Shalan confirmed in an interview with London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on August 30 Monday that Iraqi forces found heavy Iranian weapons in the holy shrine of Imam Ali (AS), where Moqtada Sadr’s Mehdi militia was holed up. He told the daily that the Iranian weapons include mortars, launchers, machine guns and tons of explosives.

Abdur Razzaq also said Kuwait pledged $17 million to rebuild Holy Najaf that was destroyed during fierce battles last month between US-Iraqi forces and Mehdi militia, and that the government has welcomed Kuwaiti offer.

On the other side, the Iraqi official revealed that hundreds of pieces from the carpets and the related electric devices in Sahla Mosque in Kufah were stolen during violence that the Holy City witnessed last month.

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