A member of the Free Syrian Army inspects damaged houses in Bustan al Basha in Aleppo city
AP
Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered on Monday immediate repairs to a historic mosque in the city of Aleppo, a move likely aimed at containing Muslim outrage after fierce fighting between rebels and regime forces set parts of the mosque on fire over the weekend.
Government troops had been holed up insidethe 12th century Umayyad mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in downtown Aleppo for several months before rebels fighting to topple Assad launched a push to liberate it this week, reports The Associated Press.
Activist Mohammad al-Hassan said the army had been using the mosque as a base because of its strategic location in the centre of the old city of Aleppo.
"It's all blackened now," he said of the mosque, speaking by phone from Aleppo
The mosque, known in Syria as the Jami al Kabir, or the Great Mosque, is one of the oldest and largest in Syria, built around a vast courtyard and enclosed in a compound adjacent to Aleppo's medieval citadel.
In the past few weeks, rebels controlled one entrance to the mosque compound while the army controlled the other. It is unclear how exactly the fire and damage occurred amid the intense clashes but the regime and the rebels are now trading accusations over whois responsible for the fire.
Videos posted by activists online show a large fire and black smoke raging inside the mosque on Saturday, and later, its blackened, pockmarked walls. Debris is strewn on the floors where worshippers once prayed on green and gold carpeting.
The videos are consistent with AP's own reporting on the incident.
"Assad's thugs set the mosque on fire as a punishment for being defeated by the Free Syrian Army," the caption on one video read, referring to the rebels fighting to topple Assad. The government on Monday said it pushed back the rebels from the mosque after the weekend fighting, though activists are giving conflicting reports on who controls it.
In another video, a rebel inside the mosque holds up a torn copy of the Muslim holy book,or Quran, saying: "These are our Qurans, this is our religion, our history."
Rebels and activists had complained earlier that soldiers and pro-government militiamen wrote offensive graffiti on the mosque walls and drank alcohol — banned in Islam — while inside.
The rebel in the video is seen holding up an empty bottle, saying it was alcohol.
The mosque is the latest victim of the violenceplaguing Syria. On Sept. 29, a fire caused by the fighting swept through Aleppo's covered market, burning more than 500 shops in the narrow, vaulted passageways.
Some of the country's most significant historical sites have been turned into bases for soldiers and rebels, including historic citadels and Turkish bath houses.
In a possible effort to contain the fallout fromthe damage at the mosque, Assad on Mondayissued a presidential decree to form a committee to repair the mosque by the end of 2013.
"He burns down the country and its heritage, and then he says he will rebuild it. Why do you destroy it to begin with?" said al-Hassan, the activist.
Rami Martini, chief of Aleppo's Chamber of Tourism, blamed the rebels for targeting Aleppo's monuments and archaeological treasures to try to frame the government. He said the losses were impossible to estimate because of the fighting around the area.
He said that despite the fire, the structure of the mosque appears to be intact though one of the entrances of the mosque that leads to the ancient market was burnt, as well as another, in the courtyard.
The platform inside the mosque, or minbar, and the prayer niche were also damaged by the fire, Martini said. He added that the wooden minbar, is identical to the one burnt in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969.
Martini said valuables were also stolen from the mosque's library, including a transparent box that contained a strand purported to be hair of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as centuries-old handwritten copies of the Quran.
"This could be the most serious damage sincethe 1830s, when an earthquake damaged themosque," said Martini, who is specialized in repairing archaeological sites and monuments.
The mosque's last renovation began about 20 years ago and was official inaugurated in 2006 when Aleppo was chosen that year as the Capital of Islamic Culture.
Aleppo has been the scene of intense fighting, particularly since rebels launched a new offensive more than two weeks ago to try to dislodge regime troops. The fighting has devastated large areas of the city of 3 million, Syria's former business capital.
Also on Monday, Turkey forced a plane from Armenia bound for Syria to land to search thecargo for weapons. Foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said Turkey granted the plane carrying aid for Aleppo permission to fly over its airspace only on condition it cansearch its cargo for possible military equipment. Source:Thisdayonline