DAMASCUS - President Bashar al-Assad on Monday issued Presidential Decision No. 18 for 2012 on forming a committee to carry out maintenance and rehabilitation works of the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo.
The committee is headed by Governor of Aleppo , Mohammad Wahid Aqqad, and it consists of seven members.
The decision set December 31st, 2013 as the deadline for completing the maintenance and rehabilitation works on.
The committee members are:
- Aleppo Governor Mohammad Wahid Aqqad, Chairman
- Director General of Military Construction Establishment Gen. Riad Issa, member
- Director of Antiquities and Museums in Aleppo Yousef Kanjo, member
- Head of the Antiquities Institution Mohammad Qejeh, member
- Engineer Marwan Hamzeh from Engineering Department at Aleppo University, member
- Engineer Fadel Mzayek from Engineering Department at Aleppo University, member
- Engineer Mohammad Mesbah Baqi from Engineers' Syndicate in Aleppo, member
- Engineer Mohammad Wahid Haddad from Aleppo Endowments Directorate, member
Levant Scholars Union, Endowments Ministry Denounce Attack on Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo
The Levant Scholars Union denounced on behalf of Arab and Islamic world the attack perpetrated by Al Qaeda on Great Umayyad Mosque.
In a statement, the Union condemned the attack that involved the desecration of the mosque and destroying a vault full of Quran copies which they scattered, in addition to damaging a sacred relic belonging to Prophet Mohammad.
The Union said the crimes of those who desecrated the mosque don't involve political ends nor will it give them any influence or help them achieve the goals for which they snuck into Aleppo, stressing that the attack was an act of vengeance and a desecration of a prominent Islamic site committed by Al Qaeda, which is an alien entity that doesn't have anything to do with the Islamic nation.
The statement wondered about the positions of Syria's neighbors who turn a blind eye and ignore Islam which they claim to belong to.
The Union asserted that what happened in the Great Umayyad Mosque is part of the repeated attacks on Islamic Sanctities according to a methodical plan by Israel and its protector the United States.
The statement also lauded the decision by President al-Assad to form a committee to rehabilitate and restore the mosque quickly.
Ministry of Awkaf: Attack on the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo a Desecration of Religion
Ministry of Islamic Endowments (Awkaf) said that the attack on the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo by takfiri armed groups is a desecration of religion, considering it a grave indication of the ferocious campaign against the safety and dignity of the homeland.
In a statement on Monday, the Ministry said that the Great Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo was attacked by takfiri gangs that harmed its lofty stature as a great worshipping place, who destroyed its walls, burned its furniture and plundered its scientific and cultural riches that are unparalleled in the Arab world.''
The Ministry said that attack is part of repeated attacks against the Islamic sanctities, especially al-Quds, according to a methodical plan devised by the Zionists and the US.
The source added that the terrorist groups also made for the closet containing copies of the Holy Quran and smashed it, before making for the sacred relic that belonged to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) that was in the mosque.
''It stands to reason that this crime does not have a political goal,'' the ministry said, ''The attack is intended to undercut the stature of the Mosque as one of the historic milestones and a renowned worshipping place.''
The ministry hailed President Bashar al-Assad's decree to set up a special committee for rehabilitating the Mosque.
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2012
