Balancing on wooden planks around the bombed stump of a golden dome in central Iraq a group of labourers is racing against the clock to rebuild one of the most sacred sites in Shia Islam.

The reconstruction of the al-Askari shrine, which was destroyed by al-Qaeda in the Sunni city of Samarra in February 2006, is seen as a pivotal step towards fixing the damage caused by almost two years of sectarian slaughter that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

After the provocative attack on the dome, Shia death squads sought revenge on Sunnis and vice versa. Sixteen months after the first bombing Sunni terrorists returned to demolish the two golden minarets that flanked the ruins of the dome.

The ancient city of Samarra, once a thriving tourist destination for millions of pilgrims, became the most dangerous city in Iraq.

Usam Ghaidan, a project supervisor for Unesco, the heritage agency of the UN, said there was pressure to rebuild the shrine as quickly and as carefully as possible because of its religious, political and economic significance.

“Being a heritage site you need time, but time is not on our side,” Mr Ghaidan told The Times in a trailer parked inside a guarded compound that contains the shattered shrine, in the western quarter of Samarra.

Scores of architects, engineers and labourers have been clearing rubble since February. Working sixteen to eighteen-hour shifts seven days a week, the men seem proud to be part of such a high-profile task.

“Al-Qaeda's main goal when they blew up this shrine was to create civil war so I think rebuilding it will unite all the people of Iraq,” said Haj Zuhair al-Auzari, a prominent Shia architect who left his work in Baghdad to help with the reconstruction effort.

To prevent any further attacks all workers are carefully vetted and visitors are searched.

The tourist trade vanished after the dome was bombed and al-Qaeda militants took over the city. Shia national police were dispatched in the aftermath of the first attack but they mistreated the residents.

“Life was awful,” said Bushura Taha, a mother of three. “When I sent my children to school I never knew if they would come back alive.”

A transformation is taking place on the security front however. Sunni tribesmen in Samarra, many of whom fought US troops as part of the insurgency, started to revolt against al-Qaeda last year.

During secret meetings with US special forces the fighters decided to join a growing armed neighbourhood watch movement that has been successful in other Sunni Arab strongholds under the payroll of the US military.

“Al-Qaeda did many bad things.That is why I decided to join the [so-called] Sons of Iraq and to convince other members to join,” said Abdul Qaid Sadun al-Bazi, 34, a leader of the 1,600-strong Samarra branch.

Driving along the rubble-strewn streets of the city groups of these young men are easy to spot in their luminous yellow bibs, brandishing AK47s as they guard checkpoints and entrances to neighbourhoods.

The US military has walled off sections of Samarra to restrict movement, mimicking tactics used successfully in violent parts of Baghdad. US troops go on patrol with Iraqi police units and give small grants to residents to encourage them to reopen businesses.

Captain Joshua Kurtzman, who commands a company of soldiers based at an old casino in Samarra, said that six months ago his men had been shot at whenever they went on patrol. Now clashes are few and far between.

He emphasised the need to take advantage of an 80 per cent improvement in the security by merging the Sons of Iraq into the regular police force and restoring essential services.

“I don't think the city will ever be as bad as it used to be,” the 28-year-old soldier from the 327th Infantry Regiment added.

With death no longer on her doorstep Mrs Taha, 36, feels safer but her troubles are far from over. “There is no electricity and when we drink the water we become sick,” she said.

The city council is working with the US State Department and the US military to fix essential services but progress is slow.

Residents hope that the city's economy will bounce back when the dome is rebuilt but they will need to be patient. Mr Ghaidan estimates that it will take 18 months to complete the structural work but replacing the gold-painted copper plates that cover the outer dome and the minarets will take much longer.

Golden edifice

The al-Askari shrine, built about 1,000 years ago, contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams - Ali al-Hadi and his son Hasan al-Askari. Muhammad al-Mahdi, the last of the 12 Shia imams, is thought to have disappeared into a tunnel under the shrine in 878. Many Shias believe that he will return to bring justice to the world

Source: Times archives

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