Iraq will not allow a repeat of what happened in Mosul, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi said on Wednesday during a trip to the city that was overrun by ISIS in June 2014.
The visit marked six years since the militants seized Mosul, where liberation in July 2017 was followed by a period of neglect, which Mr Al Kadhimi blamed on the previous Iraqi government.
“We will not allow the repetition of what happened, and we carry out military operations to support security and stability in Mosul and to hunt down the remaining terror cells,” Mr Al Kadhimi said.
The northern Iraqi city became the extremist group's de facto capital in the country between 2014 and 2017, before a grinding internationally backed military campaign ousted them from the city.
Three years after the battle to liberate Mosul, much remains in ruins.
The Prime Minister sent a strong message to the world that Nineveh province, just like the rest of Iraq, must be rebuilt, especially after the suffering it endured under ISIS rule.
The battle for Mosul lasted almost nine months,
Large parts of the city were destroyed during the nine-month battle to liberate Mosul, which killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than 900,000 others.
Almost 8 million tonnes of rubble were left where historical buildings and architectural sites once stood alongside homes, schools and businesses.
But booby traps, mines and unexploded ordnance left by ISIS have hampered reconstruction efforts.
The neglect that Iraq has undergone is a direct result of former dictator Saddam Hussein’s rule and the governments that took over after the US-led invasion of 2003, Mr Al Kadhimi said during his visit.
His government has “inherited a heavy task” with little to no budget, which is a result of “mismanagement and corruption,” he added.
Mr Al Kadhimi's first meeting in Mosul on Wednesday morning was with military and security chiefs.
Lt Gen Abdul Wahab Al Saadi, the head of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service – who was instrumental in defeating ISIS in Mosul and liberating it in June 2017 – accompanied the prime minister during the visit.
"All Iraqis played a part in the liberation of Mosul," he said. "Iraq was victorious thanks to their sacrifices and to the heroism of the Iraqi Armed Forces."
The official visited the iconic 12th century Al Nuri Mosque – nicknamed Al Hadba, Arabic for hunchback – for its leaning minaret, where ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declared the formation of the so-called caliphate.
ISIS blew it up as government forces re-took the city in 2017.
“Al Hadba represents history, heritage, civilisation and humanity, it has been subjected to the terror. It was liberated due to the sacrifice and blood of all Iraqis and that is something we are proud of,” Mr Al Kadhimi said.
During the last two years the city has undergone major transformation and people are beginning to return.
The UAE has committed $50 million (Dh183.6m) to the reconstruction of Al Nuri Mosque. The project, which is a collaboration with Unesco and the Iraqi government, will also rebuild two of the city's historic churches - the 800-year-old Al Tahera Church and Al Saa’a Church.
Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, declared the first phase of a collective rebuilding of the mosque complete last February.
During his visit on Wednesday, Mr Al Kadhimi inaugurated Mosul’s Al Hurriya (Freedom) Bridge, which straddles the Tigris River and was instrumental in recapturing the city from the militants.
His visit included Mosul’s iconic museum, where priceless Assyrian and Sumerian antiquities were looted and smashed by the terrorists for representing “a false God”.
The Prime Minister also visited the Christian town of Bartella, which was once home to thousands of Assyrian Christians. Most of Bartella’s residents fled to the autonomous Kurdish region in August 2014 when ISIS seized control over the town.
"The Christian component is one of the most authentic in Iraq, we grieve to see them leave the country," the prime minister said during a meeting with senior Christian officials.
The rebuilding of Mosul and its province has been a challenge to its residents who have little to live on.
Recent trials for residents include flooding and dealing with the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
Visiting the city may be a symbolic start to a planned offensive against ISIS, which still operates in the country.
The Iraqi public and western states have placed a lot of pressure on Mr Al Kadhimi’s cabinet to deliver and accomplish the goals he set for his government.
His office has projected him as a neutral leader who can fight off foreign interferences such as Iran and its armed militias who have played a hefty role in Iraqi politics since 2003.
Mr Al Kadhimi also spoke about the upcoming strategic dialogue Iraq will have with the US.
The premier stated that protecting Iraqi sovereignty and interests is a priority especially as the nation's finances struggle to recover from the fall in oil prices.
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The%20specs
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The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
Essentials
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Windhoek, with a combination of Emirates and Air Namibia, cost from US$790 (Dh2,902) via Johannesburg.
The trip
A 10-day self-drive in Namibia staying at a combination of the safari camps mentioned – Okonjima AfriCat, Little Kulala, Desert Rhino/Damaraland, Ongava – costs from $7,000 (Dh25,711) per person, including car hire (Toyota 4x4 or similar), but excluding international flights, with The Luxury Safari Company.
When to go
The cooler winter months, from June to September, are best, especially for game viewing.
The%20Roundup
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
