DOHA, Qatar - This tiny, wealthy Arab Gulf country is opening its first Roman Catholic church, ending decades of clandestine worship for tens of thousands of foreign workers. The consecration of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, planned for Saturday, appears to be a sign of Qatar's efforts to open up to the West as it seeks a bid for the Olympic Games in 2016. Qatar's ruler has also approved five churches for other Christian denominations, all under construction next to the Catholic one. Attracted by a booming oil economy, expatriate workers make up at least 70 percent of Qatar's population of about 1 million. Some 150,000 Christians of all denominations live here, over 90 percent of them Catholic expatriate workers from the Philippines and other Asian nations, Christian community representatives said. Qatar follows the rigorous Wahhabi teachings of Sunni Islam, and like neighboring Saudi Arabia had not previously authorized Christians to practice their faith openly. But a priest had operated in Qatar since the 1960s without official approval, said Archbishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia and the top Roman Catholic cleric in the region. "Catholics in Doha finally have their home where they can gather in freedom and security," Hinder said by telephone from his base in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, personally donated the land to build the $15 million church with 2,700 seats in the outskirts of the capital, Doha, church officials said. Out of respect for local sensitivities, the church will not feature any religious symbols — neither a cross or a bell tower — that would identify the building as a place of Christian worship. "The opening of the church is an important event for the entire community," said Tomasito Veneracion, the priest for the new parish. "We are grateful to the Qatari authorities for having allowed its construction." Qatar's decision to allow open churches leaves Saudi Arabia as the only country in the region that doesn't allow the building of churches for any Christian denomination, or any open worship. U.S. government officials and private religious officials have often been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia's lack of religious freedom. Workers from the Philippines, for example, have in the past been punished or deported if caught practicing the Christian faith in worship services. However, Archbishop Hinder said "the climate" in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, "has improved," citing last year's visit by Saudi King Abdullah to the Vatican. The first Catholic church in the Gulf was opened in Bahrain's capital, Manama, in 1939. There are seven Catholic churches in the United Arab Emirates, four in Oman and three in Kuwait. Yemen has three belonging to indigenous Christians and four unofficial Catholic parishes around the country that meet for prayers in rented houses. A handful of critics in Qatar have publicly condemned the ruler's decision to allow the building of Christian churches. But many Qataris consider Sheik Hamad a progressive leader and credit him for social and economic reforms since 1995, when he overthrew his more conservative father in a coup. In the last three years, Sheik Hamad has made several changes to this rich but traditional and deeply conservative Muslim society. He has enacted a new constitution calling for an elected parliament and guaranteeing freedom of speech and worship. But he also kept in place Islam's Sharia law, which forbids Muslims from converting to other religions. Qatar is rich in oil and holds the world's largest gas reserves. The country's most ambitious move to open up to the world has come through sports. Each year, Qatar now hosts dozens of sporting events for men and women. It held the 2006 Asian games and hopes to win the 2016 summer Olympics. A short list of candidate cities for the 2016 Olympics will be announced next June. The emirate last month also became the first Arab state to welcome an Israeli athlete for a competition, despite a regional boycott of Israel.

may be the same person who came up with Yurub and Aasiya

Only terrorists can stop terrorists ,,,,,,, xisaabtaasaa soo baxday

Aaliyah, ngonge, rudy, northerner, ibtisam, cynical lady, koolkat, sheherazade, me, femme fatale, malika, bob, zafir, adam zayla, che, layzie, etc .............. tolow yaynu nahay ,,,,,,,,,,,,

I wouldn't use it for human being ........

what kind of names do we have then if we don't have even an African ??

Khayr, Do u mean work hard in SOL ??

I wonder what Ngonge means ,,,

I was referring to the meaning not the name itself ,,,,, it is obvious it is Arabic dee

Her Royal Highness Astaqfirullah ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Aaliyah yacnii Dawiilah ,,,,,,, i don't think so

Well, Aaliyah is not included ,,

HRH ???? :confused:

loooooooooooooooooool ,.,,,,, i'm glad you didn't use the iron as a mobile phone

loooool@stoic ,, yes but make it a bit short just to fit the troll ,,

tribe-minded haye ,,,,,,, The whole world use the terorrist card sxb but this old man just doesn't know when ,,,, that is the difference ......

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Hillary Rodham Clinton's schedules as first lady — thousands of pages worth — are being released after months of pressure and criticism that the Clintons were delaying making them public. On Tuesday, the National Archives announced it would release 11,046 pages of daily schedules of the first lady at former President Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock and online Wednesday morning. The archives operates the library. Clinton has faced criticism from fellow Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republicans over the number of White House documents from her husband's administration that have not been made public. The documents to be released include schedules for 2,888 days and are the files from Patti Solis Doyle, who was the former first lady's scheduling director. Doyle served as Clinton's campaign manager but stepped down in February after a series of losses to Obama in the Democratic nomination battle. The archives said 4,746 pages of documents have parts blacked out, mostly to protect the privacy of third parties, including their Social Security numbers, telephone numbers, and home addresses. In addition, schedules for 19 days before Bill Clinton was inaugurated and his wife began first lady on Jan. 20, 1993, are closed to the public under the Presidential Records Act. The archives also said schedules for 32 days were not included in Doyle's files, but 27 of those days have now been located and will be released as soon as possible. The daily schedules are the focus of a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest group, against the archives seeking the release of the former first lady's records, including phone logs and other files. Judicial Watch has also sued separately in federal court seeking the release of documents related to a White House task force on health care that Clinton headed as first lady. The archives has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit over task force records or delay the documents' release for at least a year. The archives has asked a federal judge to delay the release of her telephone logs for one to two years. ___ On the Net: Clinton Presidential Library: http://www.clintonlibrary.gov

Sorry ,,,, i got this by an email and wanted to share with you in case it is useful to some ppl here ,,,,,,

W --- wonderful I ---- item F --- for E --- entertainment H---- handsome U --- useful S --- smart B --- but A --- at N --- night D --- dangerous

It is Natural yaa CL ,,,,,, If men don't look at you there is a question mark on your gender ,,

web page

Qardho(AllPuntland)- Wararka naga soo gaaraya Magaalada Qardho ee gobalka Karkaar ee Puntland ayaa sheegaya in ay dagaalo dhexmareen Ciidamo ka wada tirsan ciidamada amaanka ee Puntland ,oo ka kala yimid Qardho iyo Garowe ,waxa ayna dagaaladaasi kala dhaceen Shalay galab iyo Habeenkii xalay ahaa. Dhimashada labada dhinacba waxaa lugu sheegay 3 ruux ,sida ay ku waramayaan Warar Madax banaan oo laga helayo Magaalada Qardho waxaana jira gurmadyo ay helayaan dhinacyada kala duwan ee ay dagaaladu dhexmarayaan ,ayagoo ilaa hada aysan jirin cid ka mid ah Puntland oo ka hadashey falkaan. Isku dhacan dhexmaray Labada ciidan ayaa ahaa mid deg deg ah ,waxaana sababtiisa ka soo baxaya wararka kala duwan ,ayadoo warar ay sheegayaan in ay ciidamada Al-Xamdulilaah joogey ay ahaayeen ciidamo daganaa Fariisamaha ay hada dagaaladu ka dhacayaan ayna ciidamada kale doonayeen in ay gudbaan Magaalada Boosaaso. Ciidama ku sii jeeday Magaalada Boosaaso ,ayaa warar aan la xiijin sheegayaan in ay doonayeen ina y soo furtaan Makiinad lacagta daabacda oo ay gacanta ku heyso Xukuumada Puntland ,ayna ciidamada joogey Al-Xamdulilaah weydiiyeen halka ay usocdaan ka dibna saas dagaalku ku bilowday ,inkastoo aysan jirin Xaqiiqo arintaasi ku aadan. Dadka qaar ayaa siyaabo kale arimahan uga hadlaya ayagoo arimo beeleedyo meesha aysan ka saareyn ,balse labada dhinacba hada ay waxa ay helayaan gurmadyo xoog leh oo kala tagaya Qardho iyo Garowe ,waxaana socda dadaalo ay wadaan Masuuliyiinta Puntland ugu sareysa. Warar hoose ayaa sheegaya in ay dagaaladan xalay markale bilowdeen isla markaana Xukuumada Puntland ay ciidamo udirtey kala dhex galo dhinacyada dagaaladu udhaxeeyaan ,ayadoo aysan jirin ilaa hada wax ciidamo ah oo gaarey goobta dagaalku ka dhacay. Saraakiisha Madaxtooyada Garowe oo ay la xiriirtay AllPuntland ayaa diiday in ay faahfaahin ka bixiyaan dagaaladan ka dhacaya degmada Al-Xamdulilaahi ,waxa ayna sheegayaan in ay Xukuumada Puntland war ka soo saareyso dagaaladan. Waa markii ugu horeysay oo ay dagaalo ka dhacaan deegaano ka mid ah gobalka Karkaar ,kuwasoo dhexmaraya ciidamo ka wada tirsan Ismaamul gobaleedka Soomaaliyeed ee Puntland ,inkastoo ay horey ujireen dagaalo beeleedyo ka dhacayey deegaanadaasi. F. C. Geylan AllPuntland

There is islamophobia

This is too much for trolling niyow ,,,,

Exactly,,,,