Posted on 01/20/2004 4:06:23 AM PST by Thinkin' Gal
Al Haram Al Sharif wall repairs completed
AMMAN (JT) Teams from the Ministry of Awqaf wrapped up a yearlong mission to repair the southern wall of Al Haram Al Sharif in Jerusalem, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Ahmad Hilayel announced on Monday.
The repair covered an area of 250 square metres at a cost that exceeded JD100,000, the minister told the Jordan News Agency, Petra. A bulge in the wall was attributed to weather conditions, such as a wide range of temperature from 0-40º C. The situation allowed rainwater to penetrate into the wall, causing disintegration of the building material and gaps in certain sections, according to previous reports by experts who worked on the site.
To fix the problem, the engineers injected a special kind of concrete, which does not shrink fast, through the flaws and holes in the wall. The restoration work faced many obstacles placed by the Israeli authorities, officials had said.
As the work began, former minister Raef Najm, the head of the restoration team, accused Israel of politicising the issue of the faulty wall, which supports the Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine for Muslims.
The Kingdom has been in charge of the site's maintenance since 1954, before Israel occupied and annexed Arab east Jerusalem in 1967.
Hilayel told Petra there is a plan to make similar repairs to the shrine's eastern wall, while renovation works are under way on the mosque's Saladin Minbar [pulpit], which was burned down in an arson attack in 1969.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
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