Islamic Research Academy urges Egypt reconciliation, demonstrators protest Morsi ouster

Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy issued calls for national reconciliation on Monday, as supporters of ousted president Mohammad Morsi protested against Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb's support for Morsi's recent ouster. "We call for safeguarding blood, reaching comprehensive national reconciliation without exclusion, and amending disputed articles of the constitution," academy members declared in a statement following a three-hour meeting. The nine-point statement urged all parties to refer back to a document prepared and sponsored by Al-Azhar, which calls for establishing a "constitutional state" in Egypt. In a sign of implicit support for the army's roadmap, the Al-Azhar statement calls for "a reasonable interim period that ends with constitutional amendments and the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections." Egypt's powerful military overthrew Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, on July 3 following mass protests against his regime. Under a roadmap hammered out in coordination with political, youth and religious leaders, including al-Tayeb, the army suspended the constitution and named the head of the constitutional court as interim president. Scores of Muslim Brotherhood leaders have since been arrested and are facing charges of espionage, insulting the judiciary and incitement to murder. Scores of Morsi supporters on Monday staged a demonstration outside Al-Azhar's headquarters to protest al-Tayeb's support for the roadmap. Al-Tayeb, for his part, did not attend the Islamic Research Academy's meeting, with sources saying that he preferred to run Al-Azhar's affairs from home as a means of protesting current developments in Egypt. Several scholars and preachers affiliated with Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni-Muslim world, demanded Al-Tayeb's resignation on Sunday due to his support for Morsi's overthrow.