As reported by Yahoo.com, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on November 1 laid the cornerstone for the Grand Mosque of Algiers, a US$ 1.3 billion project that should become the world's third largest mosque. China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) last month was awarded the contract to build the huge monument, facing the sea in the east of Algiers, over four years. The mosque will sit on 20 hectares in the Mohammadia area of the capital. Its minaret soaring 270 meters into the sky, it will hold 120 thousand worshippers, feature a library of 1 million works and seating for 2 thousand. It will also house a museum and a research centre and become the world's third largest mosque after those in Mecca and Saudi Arabia in Medina. Algiers currently has three grand mosques: "Djamaa el-Kebir" built in the 11th century, "Djamaa el-Djedid" built in 1660, and the "Ketchaoua" at the foot of the Casbah, also built during the Ottoman rule in the 17th century.