Sunni leader to visit Vatican

VATICAN CITY: Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the foremost authority in Sunni Islam, has accepted an invitation from Pope Benedict XVI to visit Rome, the Vatican announced Tuesday. The pontiff s request was delivered to Sheikh Tantawi by French papal envoy Cardinal Paul Poupard, who was in Cairo, who was in Egypt for talks with the country s religious authorities. Earlier this month, the pope called for more dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims. His remarks came nearly five months after he sparked outrage in the Muslim world with remarks that were seen as linking Islam with violence. In a subsequent visit to Turkey in late November, he assumed an attitude of Muslim prayer at Istanbul s Blue Mosque while facing Mecca.