Nasser versus House of Saud

"Bringing in Imam Chirri, a native of Lebanon, as their spiritual leader changed the story; Chirri traveled to Al-Azhar, an influential Islamic university in Egypt and was able to get Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to donate $51,000 in 1959 as seed money for the mosque. That was significant because Nasser was Sunni while the mosque is a Shi'a center; such a donation would be more unlikely today." (thanks Ali)