ABU DHABI, 7 Nov, 04 (WAM) - The Dubai International Holy Quran Awardhas announced the names of the winners in the eighth session of the InternationalRecitation and Memorisation Competition, which concluded last week.

The first prize of Dh250,000 has gone to the Libyan contestant MohammedAli Fadl, the second amounting to Dh200,000 was won by Saiful Islam WaliAl Rehman from Bangladesh and the third of Dh150,000 went to Qari MohammedTawhidi from Afghanistan, according to reports in the UAE's dailies.

The fourth winner Mohammed Ali Soufi from Qatar was awarded a cash prizeof Dh65,000. Winners from the fifth to the tenth received Dh60,000, Dh55,000,Dh50,000, Dh45,000, Dh40,000 and Dh35,000 respectively. They are: MohammedAbed Youssif from the United Kingdom. Muaz Noureldin Al Khalti from Morocco,Mohammed Mahdi Ali Abdullah from Nigeria, Usama Mohammed Taha from Philippines,Nour Al Basar Rahmen from Pakistan and Ibrahim Naji Mohammed Al Ousajifrom Yemen.

The other participants received prizes ranging from Dh30,000 for thosewho scored A marks to Dh20,000 for those who scored less than 60 marks,while those whose marks were between 60 and 70 received Dh25,000 each.

A total number of 64 participants from all over the world took part inthe eighth session of the competition, which was held for 10 days fromRamadan 7 at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The winners wereto receive their prizes at a ceremony last Wednesday, which was cancelledfollowing the demise of the president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The participants at the competition expressed their deep sorrow for thedeath of the wise man and dedicated the Quran recitations they performedduring the competition to his soul.

Mohammed, the first winner in the eighth session, completed the memorisationof the Quran when he was 10 years old.

He began at the age of four and took him six years to achieve his goal.

Winning the first prize meant a lot for him because he did not disappointhis parents who encouraged him a lot. He said he was proud to have wonthe first prize at the first-ever international competition he took partin.

The second winner is a first secondary class student at a school specialisedin Shariah teaching in Bangladesh which has more than one million Hafezand thousands of memorisation centres.