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Stone laid for Russian Orthodox church

Members of the Russian Orthodox Christian community in the UAE have welcomed the laying of the first stone of their church.

St Philip's Church will be built in Sharjah close to several other churches. St Philip's Church, whose construction will cost $10m (Dh36 million) and is due for completion in 2009, will be the first Russian Orthodox Church in the Arabian Peninsula.

Shaikh Eisam Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Ruler's Office in Sharjah, attended the stone-laying ceremony.

The ceremony was conducted by a senior Russian Orthodox Church minister, the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kanlingrad Kirill, who is chairman of the foreign relations department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Father Alexander, parish priest of the Parish of St Philip in the UAE, also took part.

Gulf News