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Aga Khan announces Ismaili Centre for Dubai

DUBAI - Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, yesterday announced the first Ismaili Centre to be built in the Middle East in the presence of Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council and President of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation, who was representing General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence.

The Ismaili Centre, Dubai, when completed, will be comparable in scope and standing to existing major centres in London, Vancouver and Lisbon, Dushanbe and the one being planned in Toronto. A proj ect likely to cost $18 million, the centre will be built on 13,200 square metres of land gifted by the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Addressing a distinguished gathering of national and civic leaders at the foundation-laying ceremony, religious dignitaries and diplomats, Aga Khan said that when built, the Ismaili Centre will be a place for contemplation and search for enlightenment where people came together to share knowledge and wisdom. "It will be a place of peace, of order, hope and brotherhood, radiating thoughts, attitudes and sentiments which unite and uplift the mind and the spirit," he said.

"At a time, when the search for mutual understanding remains essential to assuring peace and stability," said Aga Khan, "creation of spaces that will enable the search becomes a greater imperative than ever," he said.

In addition to offering facilities for lectures, presentations, seminars and conferences relating to Aga Khan Development Network's areas of activity, the Ismaili Centre will host recitals and exhibitions that will educate the public about the breadth of Islam's heritage.

"The centre," he said, "would provide facilities to promote cultural, educational and social programmes from the broadest, non-denominational perspectives within the ethical framework of Islam, including an Early Learning Centre where the Aga Khan Education Services, a philanthropic agency, will draw on its own extensive experience in many parts of the world to offer broad, holistic, early childhood education on a secular and non-denominational basis at the highest standards of excellence.

It would, he continued, serve as a resource to support the work of the Aga Khan Development Network which is active in the Middle East and Gulf region in the areas of urban development, conservation, restoration, education, healthcare, microfinance, higher education, culture and rural development.

With regard to its architecture, the centre will present courtyards of Andulasian inspiration, woven with a complex of yellow sandstone, capped by Fatimid domes, adjacent to a landscaped public garden which will be distinctively Muslim.

The centre has been designed by architect Rami El Dahan. Later, the Press was briefed about Aga Khan Development Network's areas of activity worldwide at the Dubai Press Club.