CAIRO: The head of Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam s highest seat of learning, said Saturday he was ready to travel to Baghdad to help quell the wave of communal violence convulsing Iraq. Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi told a press conference he was willing to meet his Sunni and Shiite Iraqi brothers to help them reconcile. He added: We call on our brothers in Iraq, in the names of the Islamic institutions in Egypt, and of Islam, to make a united front and to stand on the side of those who build and not those who destroy. The head of the Arab League, Secretary General Amr Moussa, also expressed his concern over the violence sweeping Iraq since assailants blew up a Shiite holy shrine in Samarra Wednesday, leaving at least 119 dead. In a phone call with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Mussa exhorted the Iraqi head of state to calm the situation in order to preserve the unity of the people, the Arab League said in a statement. AFP
Egyptian Sunni leader offers to help end violence in Iraq
