Azhar imam, German FM discuss bilateral cooperation

Al Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed el Tayyeb discussed Monday with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his accompanying delegation cooperation between Al Azhar and Germany.

The German minister thanked Tayyeb for meeting him at Al Azhar.

Germany is keen on promoting cooperation with Al Azhar, which is considered a beacon of moderate thought in the whole world, he added.

The German minister, meanwhile, said that his visit to Al Azhar comes as part of cooperation in confronting terrorism and extremism.

Germany is firmly confronting extremist thoughts, he affirmed.

He further said that a lost of German universities established departments for Islamic studies, adding that Germany seeks al Azhar's support in this respect.

Tayyeb, for his part, welcomed the visit of the German foreign minister and his accompanying delegation to Al Azhar.

The extremist thought is alien to the Arab and Islamic societies, he added.

Al Azhar is planning to open a new international channel with the aim with spreading the true teachings of Islam, he said.

Al Azhar stands fully ready to cooperate with the German universities through dispatching professors to supervise the Islamic studies departments, he added.