Eyebrows will be raised that Saudi Arabia has resuscitated its ten-year old plan to construct a mosque and education centre in a massive 30-hectre hilltop complex overlooking Kabul, costing $100 million. The project is to be completed at breakneck speed by early 2016, in about an year after the NATO’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The move is aimed at bolstering Saudi influence in Afghanistan as the west withdraws.
The Kabul government seems enthusiastic about the project since Saudis spend money lavishly and given the pervasive corruption, there will always be scope for kickbacks.
Afghanistan is a nation of observant Muslims but their traditional Islam is mixed with Sufi culture. Through the past three decades, Wahhabism has been relentlessly injected into the Afghan psyche — with unpleasant consequences for international security, of course.
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