Riyadh - A mass conversion of Chinese workers to Islam in Saudi Arabia should quell domestic criticism about hiring of non- Islamic foreigners, the government said Thursday.
The ceremony included 660 Chinese workers who came to Saudi Arabia to work on a railway project, according to media reports.
While witnessing the ceremony, Abdul Aziz al-Khudhairi, Mecca governorate undersecretary, said that this is a "direct response to
critics of the government for contracting Chinese."
In March, Saudi Arabia awarded a 1.8-billion-dollar infrastructure contract to a consortium including a unit of China Railway Construction Corp for the 450-kilometer high-speed rail link.
Some Muslims had been critical of the decision to hire non-Muslims to build a railway linking the Red Sea port city of Jeddah with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
"We received hundreds of letters opposing the signing of a contract with the Chinese company and demanding that Muslims be contracted," al-Khudhairi was quoted by the Saudi Gazette newspaper as saying.
"These 660 represent around 10 per cent of the 5,000 working on the Haramain train," al-Khudhairi added.(dpa)
Mass Chinese conversion to Islam touted by Saudi government | TopNews
So Chinaman is Converting to Islam for Money?
