Press releases & Statements

Letter to MEPs     

1 June 2008

We write to bring to your attention the appalling crisis being played out in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains in Iraq.  Mosul (Nineveh) is one of the world's most ancient cities, known for its history, culture and from the holy books of all three of the monotheistic religions.  The situation over the past 20 years in Mosul has been one of steady deterioration.  However, since 2003 this has accelerated to a degree where the city is now in an effective state of collapse.   The important historical sites of Mosul itself risk being lost forever, it’s mosques, churches, monasteries and prophets’ tombs. 

Media coverage of the problems facing Mosul are extremely limited and does not cover particular areas which we believe to be extremely important.  Mosul has always been an Arab city [the name "Mosul is Arabic for "connector" after its strategic cross-road location]. In addition to its predominantly Arab population, the city has been home to a multi-ethnic, multi-religious community who has lived and married side-by-side over the centuries.  It now faces new threats which, if realised, will see its destruction.  These can be measured as follows:-

a.    There has been practically a news blackout with regard to the fact that the Kurdish Peshmerga militia now effectively control Mosul and the Nineveh Plains and the Kurdish maps show Mosul as a Kurdish city, as do many American websites.   Many in Mosul believe that they may have been responsible for the arrest, torture and murder of many of Mosul's academics, intellectuals and dignitaries; and that they were behind the recent murder of Archbishop Baules Faraj Rahho one of the most senior Christian figures in Mosul (one of many Christian clerics murdered). 

b.    The motive behind these actions is to effectively beat the people of Mosul and Nineveh Plains into submission to become part of a greater, expanded Kurdistan and in pursuance of this they have been responsible not only for the murder of Christians and Muslim, Turkomens, Chaldeans and other minorities but were also responsible for coercing villages into voting to join Kurdistan.

The people of Mosul are in an extremely difficult situation with random arrests and a very uncertain future.  The very fact that the international community has stood silently by and watched this situation develop is deplorable.

We understand that there will be a Kirkuk Conference in the European Parliament on 3 June which has areas of similarity to Mosul.  However there are differences in that:

a)    Neither Mosul nor Kirkuk were ever Kurdish cities.  Mosul has always been an Arab city; Kirkuk was traditionally a Turkuman city for many centuries with Kurdish presence coming from Kurdish workers for the Iraqi Petroleum Company since the 1930’s.  We would support Kirkuk’s argument to stay within Iraq proper rather than within an expanded Kurdistan.

b)    Mosul has particular long-term concerns in respect of the preservation and excavation of its enormous cultural and historical heritage, much of it still unexamined. We believe Mosul should be considered for addition to the tentative list as a UNESCO World Heritage site as was Babylon in 2003. Mosul/Nineveh is of equal importance archaeologically as Babylon and is much larger.

c)     Additionally, and as a matter of urgency, we are particularly concerned about the future of the Mosul Dam.  This has been shown by the US authorities to be inherently unsafe and despite monies being allocated for its repair, no action appears to have been taken.  If the level of water behind the dam is allowed to stabilise at a safe level ie by effectively letting the river flow to pass through the dam, the danger would be reduced. Instead, and as though to magnify the danger, the water level has been, if anything, allowed to rise behind the dam.  If the dam does burst it will have catastrophic consequences for the populations of Mosul City and the numerous towns and villages downstream in the Nineveh Plains.

We urgently seek your assistance in raising our concerns within the European Parliament.

Dr Ismail K Jalili

Chairman

Action For Mosul

Email: secretary(AT)almosul.org

Website:  www.almosul.org