BAGHDAD, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi leaders on Friday hailed the decision of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to re-inscribe the ancient city of Babylon on its World Heritage List.

In a statement by his office, Iraqi President Barham Salih congratulated the Iraqi people for re-inscribing Babylon in the World Heritage List.

He said that it came "by the efforts of all good people of Iraq and supporters of friends and brothers."

"I extend my congratulations to the people of Iraq on the occasion of the inclusion of Babylon on the list of the World Heritage," a statement by Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said.

"I welcome the great efforts that have been made to ensure the success of this issue by the Ministry of Culture, Archaeologists and the media," Mahdi added.

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi also expressed on his twitter account his congratulations.

Earlier in the day, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee met in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku and voted in favor of listing the sprawling Mesopotamian metropolis of Babylon as a World Heritage Site.

Located some 100 km south of Baghdad, the ancient site of Babylon is considered one of the most prominent archaeological sites in the world.

Because of the damaging maintenance conducted in the late 1980s by the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the ancient site was removed from the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.

During the past years, the provincial government of Babil launched a campaign under the slogan "Babylon is a Human and an International Heritage," in order to facilitate the return of the ancient site on the World Heritage List. Enditem

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