Israelis To Visit Jewish Sites In Iraq

Bassel Mohamad     Al-Hayat     2003/08/18

Baghdad

A Jordanian archeologist based in Baghdad said that Israeli archeologists were planning with their colleagues in Amman to visit Al Kafl site, located close to Najaf, adding that "the Israeli archeologists intend to examine and excavate the mentioned site, which contains graves and symbols of Jewish historical characters; also its walls have Hebrew writings." This site refers to the prophet Zi el Kafl, whose name was mentioned in several verses of the Koran.

Al Kafl site, which has long been abandoned, is expected to soon turn into an active target for Israeli tourists and researchers. Ma'ariv brought up the possibility of Israeli archeologists heading towards Iraq for mere business purposes.

There was talk in Baghdad about moves concerning the normalization of Iraqi-Israeli relations in the fields of commerce, tourism, archeology and agriculture. Abdulamir Abdulbaki, head of one of the largest tourism companies in Baghdad, said that he knew from other Jordanian tourism offices that Israeli citizens were inquiring about tourism in Iraq, pointing out that some of these offices have started drawing itineraries for Jewish sites in Iraq.

On his part, Abdulghafar Kaissi, at Iraq's Al Nahrain University, confirmed that "Islam calls upon us to respect others' freedom of religion, therefore, there's nothing that prevents Jews from visiting Al Kafl in the future."