Bouteflika's mosque seen as monument to megalomania

  • 📰 mailandguardian
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 40 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 19%
  • Publisher: 92%

South Africa Headlines News

South Africa Latest News,South Africa Headlines

Built with Algeria's vast oil wealth, the monument on the Bay of Algiers will be the world’s third biggest mosque and Africa’s largest, also boasting the tallest minaret anywhere at 265 metres.

Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika may be gone, but his unfinished Great Mosque of Algiers looms large as a symbol of his 20-year reign and, many say, his megalomania.

But it has few defenders among the people of Algiers, where many dismiss it as a vanity project of the 82-year-old deposed leader and an immense waste of public money. The National Agency for Health Institutions in 2015 noted that Algeria’s university hospitals date to colonial times and are “mostly a century old”.

On social networks, petitions have been launched to transform the Great Mosque into “Algeria’s largest hospital”.With space for up to 120 000 faithful, the Great Mosque of Algiers will be the world’s third largest after those in Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest sites, in Saudi Arabia. “This mosque just shows that they are all thieves,” said Fella, 52, who has been active in the protest movement against the “system” since it began on February 22.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 2. in ZA

South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Taxi 'hitman' arrested in hospital over Hout Bay attack that left four deadAn alleged hitman and taxi driver was arrested in hospital over the weekend in connection with the taxi-related shooting that left four people dead in Hout Bay, Cape Town, last week.
Source: SowetanLIVE - 🏆 13. / 63 Read more »

Hout Bay taxi bosses promise to seek lasting solution to disputesHout Bay residents on Monday complained to Police Minister Bheki Cele about the slow response of police, and also claimed that some officers are taxi owners.
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

Hout Bay taxi associations hope Nzimande can help resolve violenceSome taxi bosses have blamed the taxi violence on the introduction of the MyCiTi bus service on the coveted Hout Bay to Cape Town route, which they claim has hampered their business.
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

Nelson Mandela Bay Metro coalition is not working, says MEC | IOL NewsThe coalition government of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was not working, Eastern Cape Finance and Economic Affairs MEC Oscar Mabuyane said. Interesting given that he called the previous administration an unfortunate arrangement.
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »

Police probe case of murder-suicide involving well-known couple in Mossel BayIt is alleged Trevor Davis shot his wife, Elma Davis, before turning the gun on himself at their home on Sunday afternoon. I hope afriforum Afroforum1 didn’t report this as farm attack or white genocide, the alarmists can be something else pela
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

Whale shark carcass removed from Camps Bay beachThe recent strong seas and heavy swells may have contributed to the whale shark beaching and perishing.
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

Plettenberg Bay woman commits suicide at shopping centreThe woman arrived at the shopping centre and told a taxi driver she was going to the bathroom, before jumping from the building.
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

Richard's Bay doctor dies after accidentally shooting himself in face | The PostHis son, Prashanth Naidu, described his father’s death as being accidental.
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »

MEC awaits info from Nzimande on Hout Bay taxi violence task team
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

WANDILE SIHLOBO: Lessons about rural development in SA from Lambert’s BaySA’s primary agricultural sector is not becoming insignificant — it is only that other sectors have grown at a faster pace
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »