Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Mosque's minarets 'destroyed'
TWO minarets of a revered Shiite shrine in the northern Iraqi town of Samarra have collapsed after being blown up by insurgents, a top official has said.
The tall structures at the Golden Mosque came down at around 9am local time (3pm AEST), according to an Agence France Presse correspondent who reached the site shortly after the blasts.
Sheikh Saleh al-Haidiri, head of the Shiite endowment administrative body responsible for shrines in Iraq, said the minarets were blown up by "terrorists".
On February 22, 2006, alleged al-Qaeda militants bombed the shrine in an attack which triggered brutal nationwide Shiite and Sunni sectarian clashes that are still continuing.
Since then the shrine has been heavily guarded by Iraqi forces.
The Iraqi interior ministry has said it is "looking into these reports".
The tall structures at the Golden Mosque came down at around 9am local time (3pm AEST), according to an Agence France Presse correspondent who reached the site shortly after the blasts.
Sheikh Saleh al-Haidiri, head of the Shiite endowment administrative body responsible for shrines in Iraq, said the minarets were blown up by "terrorists".
On February 22, 2006, alleged al-Qaeda militants bombed the shrine in an attack which triggered brutal nationwide Shiite and Sunni sectarian clashes that are still continuing.
Since then the shrine has been heavily guarded by Iraqi forces.
The Iraqi interior ministry has said it is "looking into these reports".
Mosque's minarets 'destroyed'
TWO minarets of a revered Shiite shrine in the northern Iraqi town of Samarra have collapsed after being blown up by insurgents, a top official has said.
The tall structures at the Golden Mosque came down at around 9am local time (3pm AEST), according to an Agence France Presse correspondent who reached the site shortly after the blasts.
Sheikh Saleh al-Haidiri, head of the Shiite endowment administrative body responsible for shrines in Iraq, said the minarets were blown up by "terrorists".
On February 22, 2006, alleged al-Qaeda militants bombed the shrine in an attack which triggered brutal nationwide Shiite and Sunni sectarian clashes that are still continuing.
Since then the shrine has been heavily guarded by Iraqi forces.
The Iraqi interior ministry has said it is "looking into these reports".
The tall structures at the Golden Mosque came down at around 9am local time (3pm AEST), according to an Agence France Presse correspondent who reached the site shortly after the blasts.
Sheikh Saleh al-Haidiri, head of the Shiite endowment administrative body responsible for shrines in Iraq, said the minarets were blown up by "terrorists".
On February 22, 2006, alleged al-Qaeda militants bombed the shrine in an attack which triggered brutal nationwide Shiite and Sunni sectarian clashes that are still continuing.
Since then the shrine has been heavily guarded by Iraqi forces.
The Iraqi interior ministry has said it is "looking into these reports".
two survive sea helicopter crash
TWO men are in hospital after escaping a helicopter crash off the coast of the north Queensland city of Mackay earlier this afternoon.
The Bell 206 helicopter after an engine failure, a spokeswoman from the Australian Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre (AusSAR) said.
The two people aboard the chopper were able to eject from the aircraft before it hit the water and were spotted by a rescue helicopter floating in a life raft about 100KM northeast of Mackay.
The gender and age of the two people is yet to be confirmed, however it is believed the passenger on the helicopter is a marine coastal pilot who works guiding freight ships through the Great Barrier Reef.
The Bell 206 helicopter after an engine failure, a spokeswoman from the Australian Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre (AusSAR) said.
The two people aboard the chopper were able to eject from the aircraft before it hit the water and were spotted by a rescue helicopter floating in a life raft about 100KM northeast of Mackay.
The gender and age of the two people is yet to be confirmed, however it is believed the passenger on the helicopter is a marine coastal pilot who works guiding freight ships through the Great Barrier Reef.
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