Algeria is participating in financing the future grand mosque of Marseille, in south-east France, said the Algerian minister for national solidarity Sunday, without specifying the amount of the contribution.
"It's an honor to construct the largest mosque in France," Djamal Ould Abbas said, upon receiving the president of the General Council of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Jean-Noël Guérini, on an official visit to Algeria.
Jean-Noël Guérini answered that he was committed to having the grand mosque of Marseille built as soon as possible.
Algeria committed in September to pay 360,000 euro for the construction of the mosque in Marseille, and an initial payment of 170,000 euro was made, Fatima Orsatelli, who sits on the board of the regional council of the Muslim Faith in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and who accompanied Mr. Guérini. to Algeria, told AFP. She had incorrectly said earlier that a 'check of 360,000 euro' had been paid by Algeria.
She added that Algeria is now the only donor and that an appeal for donations was being prepared.
The mayor of Marseille, a city with a strong Algerian community, presented in November 2007 to the association in charge of the grand mosque project, the key to the building which will house it. The budget of the grand mosque was estimated at 8-8.6 million euro.
This project, which has been gathering dust for years, is symbolic for Marseille, which has a large Muslim community, usually estimated at about 200,000 people.
Source: La Croix (French), h/t le blog laiciste
See also:
* France: Government participates in mosque funding
* Marseille: Mosque shut down
* Marseilles: Building of Great Mosque
* Marseilles: Grand Mosque plans
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