"The entrance arcades, minaret, prayer-hall courtyard and prayer hall are arranged lengthwise on the site along an axis toward Mecca,” said the German design firm.

Within this mosque complex, designed to accommodate 120,000 visitors daily, buildings at the southern part of the prayer hall will include a school for imams, a museum of Islamic art and history, a research center and a 2,000-seat library with a million works. A spacious park, large enough to host capacity crowds, will link the mosque with the rest of the buildings. In addition, there will be commercial space, a restaurant and parking for 6,000 cars.

To win the Algerian contract, China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC) beat out an Italian-Lebanese consortium of Astaldi and the Arabian Construction Co. as well as an Algerian-Spanish joint bid from ETRHB Haddad and COSIDER-FCC.

Others debarred in 2009 from bidding on World Bank-funded projects include E.C. de Luna Construction Corp. and Eduardo C. de Luna, owner and sole proprietor of the firm, both debarred permanently; China Road and Bridge Corp., debarred for eight years; China Geo-Engineering Corp., debarred for five years; and Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development Corp. and CM Pancho Construction Inc., debarred for four years each.

"The sanctioned entities will have their names listed on the World Bank’s website for the full extent of the sanctioned period and will be ineligible to bid on World Bank Group contracts during this period," said a statement by the bank.

In the case of CSCEC, the bank said, "The debarment can be reduced or terminated after four years if that firm puts in place a compliance program satisfactory to the World Bank."

The construction of the Algiers-sited mosque is being implemented by the state-owned Algerian National Agency for the Implementation and Management of the Grand Mosque of Algiers. The project will boost the local labor market by providing an additional 17,000 jobs, with at least 10,000 being reserved for Algerians.