An Afghan official says Saudi Arabia will build a massive Islamic complex in central Kabul that will cost between $45 million and $100 million.
Dayi-Ul Haq Abed, Afghanistan's acting hajj and religious affairs minister, told the French news agency AFP that the project was agreed last week in Jeddah and that construction will begin next year.
The Islamic complex will cover 24 hectares on Maranjan Hill in central Kabul. It will feature a university, a hospital, a sports hall, and a mosque capable of holding 15,000 worshippers at a time.
The center, to be named after Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, will be run jointly by the Saudi and Afghan ministries of religious affairs.
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries to recognize the hard-line Taliban regime during its rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Dayi-Ul Haq Abed, Afghanistan's acting hajj and religious affairs minister, told the French news agency AFP that the project was agreed last week in Jeddah and that construction will begin next year.
The Islamic complex will cover 24 hectares on Maranjan Hill in central Kabul. It will feature a university, a hospital, a sports hall, and a mosque capable of holding 15,000 worshippers at a time.
The center, to be named after Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, will be run jointly by the Saudi and Afghan ministries of religious affairs.
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries to recognize the hard-line Taliban regime during its rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.