The work on a new Bahrain-funded library being built in Jerusalem will be completed next year, said a report.

The facility will serve thousands of people and will be electronically linked to Bahrain's National Library in a bid to give Palestinian schoolchildren easier access to reading material.

It is being funded by His Majesty King Hamad after a co-operation agreement was signed between the Royal Charity Organisation (RCO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on August 20.

The organisation's secretary-general Dr Mustafa Al Sayed, who personally visited the site, believes the structure will be an essential educational tool that would strengthen the Arab states.

"We signed the agreement with the UNDP to build and manage a library in Jerusalem," he told the the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"Bahrain will continue to manage it after it's been built.

"We've already started building, it's very close to Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

"We will also link it electronically with the Shaikh Isa National Library in Bahrain.

"This way, they can have access to all the books available here."

Dr Al Sayed said his organisation is also planning to turn a historical house in Jerusalem (Al Quds) into a cultural centre.

"I was asked by Culture Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa to look for an old house in or near Jerusalem," he said.

"The house will be purchased by Bahrain to be used as a Bahraini-Palestinian cultural centre.

"I looked at houses while I was there, and we have a number of good options."

He said the centre, which will be under the patronage of RCO chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, will be up and running when the library opens.

Bahrain has previously built a school, hospital, research centre and a factory for artificial limbs, which has treated 1,400 people, in Palestine.-TradeArabia News Service