UNESCO has pledged to help rebuild a revered Shi'ite shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra, which was badly damaged in two separate attacks, one in February 2006 and the other earlier this month.
The UN cultural organization and the Iraqi government signed a memorandum in Jordan for the reconstruction of the Al-Askari Mosque.
The UN Development Group Iraq Trust Fund is to provide $5.4 million and the Iraqi government will contribute $3 million to the project.
UNESCO said the reconstruction would start "as soon as security conditions are guaranteed" and would last ten months.
The Al-Askari, or Golden, Mosque shrine is one of the most revered sites of Shi'ite Islam.
Its minarets were blown up by suspected Sunni insurgents on June 13. In February 2006, a bomb attack destroyed its huge golden dome, sparking a wave of deadly sectarian violence.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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