Terrorism failed to disturb peace between Egyptians: Ahmed el-Tayyib

CAIRO - 24 May 2017: Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayyib denied in his statements to the German broadcaster ZDF that Christians in Egypt face discrimination or oppression based on their religion, saying that recent terrorist attacks against churches failed to disturb the peace between Egyptians.

In his interview with the German Radio and TV, during his visit to Berlin to attend the 500th anniversary of the Reformation of the German Protestant Church, Tayyib stressed that Christians in Egypt are not a minority; they are Egyptians with full citizenship rights.

The Grand Imam of the major Sunni entity in the world expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the Manchester terrorist attack that took place on Monday.

“Terrorism claims innocent souls all over the world, Tayyib told ZDF, saying that Al-Azhar leads unremitting efforts to spread the culture of tolerance, coexistence and peace, and renounce extremism, terrorism, hatred and intolerance.

Tayyib invited German clerics to benefit from the specialized training programs at Al-Azhar in Cairo, to educate them about the dangers of extremism, and how to deal with Muslims in Western societies.