Saudis to build a Kabul Islamic center with capacity for 5,000 students

The complex will also include a mosque and will be managed by the Ministers for Religious Affairs of the two countries. Saudi Arabia is one of three countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime after their conquest of Afghanistan in 1996.

Afghanistan, October 30, 2012: The largest Islamic center ever to be built in Kabul, which will include a mosque – like the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad (pictured) – and a university capable of accommodating more than five thousand students, will cost 100 million dollars.

The announcement was made yesterday by the Deputy Minister of the Haj (pilgrimage) and Religious Affairs, Dayi-Ul Haq Abed, who spoke of a “one of a kind” centre

Saudi Arabia will both project and fund the centre. An Afghan government official stated that “the agreement was signed last week in Jeddah. Construction – he added – will begin next year, more or less in a couple of months. “The center will be managed jointly by the Ministers for Religious Affairs of the two States.

The Faisal Mosque on which the new structure will be modeled was also built by the Saudis and can accommodate up to 15 thousand people.

Saudi Arabia is one of three countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime after their conquest of Afghanistan in 1996. The other two were Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

– asianews