Saudi Arabia limits mosque service to full-timers

Cairo: Saudi religious authorities have decreed that appointing employees to serve mosques in the kingdom must be limited to full-timers, a local newspaper has reported.

Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdelatif Al Sheikh has issued a circular whereby employees, known as the mosque servants, should not have other jobs, online newspaper Akhbaar 24 said, citing unidentified sources.

"The minister's circular regulates the work of mosques' servants and conduct a list of all employees doing this job," the sources said. Employees not working full time will be excluded, they added.

"Efforts will be made to ensure that all mosques' servants do not have other jobs," the sources added.

There was no immediate official comment on the report, nor were figures provided about the numbers of such employees.