DAR AL HARB - EGYPT: AL AZHAR WILL RESUME 'DIALOGUE' WITH THE VATICAN

EGYPT: AL-AZHAR EDGING TOWARDS RESUMPTION OF DIALOGUE WITH VATICAN

Cairo, 19 Jan. (AKI) - The Grand Sheikh of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, has told an Egyptian daily that the leading theological body in Sunni Islam will next week examine "resuming relations and dialogue with the Vatican, interrupted last September after the speech in Regensburg by pope Benedict XVI considered offensive to Islam and the Prophet." "Islam always calls for dialogue between religions and ask Muslims to not close the door to understanding others" he told independent newspaper Al Masri al-Yom.

Al-Tantawi said an al-Azhar council would meet next week to consider the issue.

"The tendency is to resume dialogue with the Church of Rome, because Islam calls for cooperation and understanding of other cultures and traditions and opposes any form of ignorance" Tantawi said in an interview published Friday.

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1) EGYPT: AL-AZHAR EDGING TOWARDS RESUMPTION OF DIALOGUE WITH VATICAN