LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi as part of state visit to the UAE on Monday.
Mansour Belhoul Al-Falasi, the Emirati ambassador to the UK, and Edward Hobart, the UK ambassador to the UAE, accompanied Starmer during his visit to the iconic site, Emirates News Agency reported.
Yousef Al-Obaidli, director-general of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center, gave Starmer a tour of the site’s external halls, arcades and prayer hall.
The mosque, which opened for worship in December 2007, calls for coexistence, tolerance and openness to other faiths, and aspires to connect cultures and peoples from around the world.
Starmer was briefed about the mosque’s design, which was inspired by centuries-old Islamic architecture.
The British premier said that the UK and UAE “have a common history and a deep relationship dating back centuries.”
He added that the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is making efforts “to promote common human values between religions and cultures,” and is a site where “people from all over the world meet in peace.”
At the end of the tour, the center gifted Starmer a compass designed after the chandeliers in the mosque.
Earlier, Starmer met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan at Al-Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi. The two leaders discussed regional and global issues.
