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Guarantee full rights to Iran's Sunni
community: Al Azhar to Ahmadinjejad
Thursday February 07, 2013 08:12:09 PM,
Agencies
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London:
The first Iranian presidential visit to Egypt for more than thirty
years has been beset by controversy with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad being lectured by the Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh and then
attacked outside a mosque by a man wielding a shoe, a media report
says.
Video released by Turkey’s Anadolu news agency on Tuesday showed a
man throwing a shoe at the Iranian president as he left Cairo’s
al-Hussein mosque following evening prayers.
The footage shows a
man, believed to be a Syrian national due to his accent, striking
out several times and Ahmadinejad immediately being surrounded by
body-guards. The attacker reportedly denounced Ahmadinejad as a
“coward” and was arrested following the incident, Asharq Al-Awsat
reported Wednesday.
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi received the Iranian President at
Cairo Airport on Tuesday. He is in town to attend a summit of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Egyptian officials
revealed that Mursi and Ahmadinejad discussed ways to end the
bloodshed in Syria and strengthen bilateral relations.
Following this, Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb met with the
Iranian president during which time he warned Ahmadinejad not to
meddle in Gulf Arab affairs.
He denounced the “spread of Shi’ism
in Sunni lands” adding that Tehran must “respect Bahrain as a
sisterly Arab state”, according to a statement by al-Azhar’s media
office. Egypt’s top Sunni cleric also called on Tehran to
guarantee full rights to Iran’s Sunni community.
Egypt’s Al-Daw'a al-Salafiyyah (The Salafist Call) welcomed Al-Azhar’s
call for an end to the oppression being exercised against Iran’s
Sunni minority. Party spokesman Abdul Moneim El-Shahat stressed
that al-Azhar, as one of the top religious institutes in Egypt,
has every right to issue such statements, even if they are not
accepted by the other side.
Iranian official and semi-official news agencies did not report
any of the criticisms made by the al-Azhar Grand Sheikh towards
Ahmadinejad and Iran.
Iran's official Irna news agency quoted Dr. al-Tayeb as saying,
“We respect you (Ahmadinejad) as a person who is trying to create
unity among Muslims” adding “we hope your idea of creating unity
among Muslims can be materialized.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr emphasized that Cairo
will not seek to improve its ties with Iran at the expense of Arab
Gulf security.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Egyptian FM said, “The security of Gulf
countries is a red line for Egypt.”
Regarding the prospect of Egyptian-Iranian rapprochement, he said,
“Egypt has a clear cut stance on this issue. This stance has been
repeatedly declared by the president and the foreign ministry.”
This is the first time that an Iranian President has visited Egypt
since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Diplomatic ties between Cairo and Tehran broke down in 1980 after
Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel and gave asylum to Iran’s
exiled Shah Reza Pahlavi. In 1981, Iran named a Tehran street
after Khaled Islambouli, assassin of Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat.
However relations between the two regional powers improved after
the Egyptians elected an Islamist president in June. Despite this,
Cairo and Tehran remain at odds over a number of issues,
particularly the Syrian crisis.
Speaking before leaving Tehran for Cairo, Iran state news agency
Irna quoted Ahmadinejad as saying, “I will try to pave the ground
for developing co-operation between Iran and Egypt.”
He added, “If Tehran and Cairo see more eye-to-eye on regional and
international issues, many (issues) will change.”
It is not yet clear to what degree this has been achieved by
Ahmadinejad’s first visit to Egypt.
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