FAISAL, GOVERNOR OF ASSIR REGION AND DIRECTOR GENERAL OF KING FAISAL CHARITY FOUNDATION, SAID THE COMMITTEE HAS AWARDED THE PRIZE TO H.E. PRESIDENT MINTIMER SH. SHAIMIEV OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN IN RECOGNITION OF HIS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES TO ISLAM, INCLUDING HIS RELENTLESS EFFORTS IN REVIVING ISLAMIC CULTURE IN THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN, PROMOTING ISLAMIC TEACHINGS AND VALUES AMONG ITS POPULATION, AND REBUILDING ISLAMIC MOSQUES THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED DURING PREVIOUS ERAS. TODAY, MORE THAN 1000 MOSQUES HAVE BEEN REBUILT, INCLUDING FORTY IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF KAZAN, WHEREAS ONLY FOUR MOSQUES HAVE EXISTED DURING THE COMMUNIST RULE OF THAT COUNTRY. PRESIDENT SH. SHAIMIEV'S REIGN HAS ALSO WITNESSED THE INAUGURATION OF THE GHOL SHARIF MOSQUE, A MASTERPIECE OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE, AS WELL AS THE PRINTING OF THE HOLY QUORAN AND MAJOR ISLAMIC BOOKS, INCEPTION OF NUMEROUS ISLAMIC SCHOOLS AND RUSSIAN , TATARSTANIAN AND ARABIC LANGUAGES. THE PRESIDENT5 IS ALSO CREDITED FOR PURSUING A WISE POLICY THAT HELPED CONSOLIDATE RAPPORT AND PEACEFUL EXISTENCE AMONG MEMBERS OF THE POPULATION, AND CULMINATED IN A DISCERNIBLE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THAT COUNTRY. PRINCE KHALID AL-FAISAL CONGRATULATED THE PRESIDENT, WHO WAS BORN IN 1937, ON WINNING THE PRIZE, WISHING THE OTHERS GOOD LUCK. AN AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER, MINTIMER BECAME PRESIDENT IN 1991 AND HENCE, WON A NUMBER OF PRESTIGIOUS PRIZES ANT TITLES, NOTABLY THOSE OFFERED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND THE UNESCO. --MORE
