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Political motives behind anti-Islam campaign - Egypt''s Al-Azhar

CAIRO, Jan 24 (KUNA) -- The Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb said Monday the defamation campaign targeting Islam in the West is politically motivated.
"The campaign spearheaded by western media moguls aims to promote unfair stereotypes about Islam in contradictions of the true Islamic values of tolerance and moderation being advocated by Al-Azhar," a statement issued by Al-Azhar Sheikhdom quoted him as saying.
Al-Tayyeb made the remarks during his meeting here with a delegation from the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
"Muslims have a long history of friendly relations with non-Muslims over the last 14 centuries," he noted.
Dr. Al-Tayyeb decried "the malicious" western plans aiming to fragment the Arab world, citing as examples the situations in Iraq, Sudan and Lebanon as well as the Maghreb countries.
He also condemned strongly the purported plots to divide Egypt, "the world's oldest country with coherent society," into three Muslim, Christian and Noban states.
"There is a Zionist plot aiming to defragment the Arab world with a view to posing Israel as the sole dominant power in the Middle East," he stressed.
Acknowledging that there are "wise voices" in the west, the grand sheikh said these voices are "less loud and less influential" than the hostile ones.
Meanwhile, he briefed his guests on the educational system of Al-Azhar University as well as the efforts being made to modernize the prestigious institutions.
A group of students from Yale University are studying Arabic and Islamic sciences at Al-Azhar University for a full semester, he told his guests noting that it is a priority for his institution to strengthen national unity, strengthen the coherence of the social texture of Egypt and promote peace worldwide. (end) ez.gb KUNA 242113 Jan 11NNNN