Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received Thomas Goldberger, the U.S. Charge D’Affaires in Cairo.

The Grand Imam said that Al-Azhar is making great efforts to confront extremist ideology, and working to build bridges of cooperation and understanding between different civilizations. He pointed out that Al-Azhar is keen to communicate and cooperate with religious institutions inside and outside Egypt, most notably the Vatican, the Canterbury Cathedral, the World Council of Churches, in addition to various Egyptian churches, confirming Al-Azhar's keenness to exchange visions and ideas with various civilizations and cultures, in order to achieve security and peace for the entire humanity.

His Eminence stressed that Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif is ready to cooperate with all concerned institutions in the United States in order to revive a true peace based on coexistence and respect for the other. He expressed his desire to cooperate to change the wrong stereotype that some American people have about Muslims, and to promote the true moderate image instead. In addition, he stressed his great confidence in the awareness of the majority of the American people, and their ability to distinguish between countries' policies and politicians' slogans which paint a wrong picture of nations in a manner that serves their interests.

Mr. Goldberger, for his part, expressed his appreciation for the Grand Imam’s vision of peace, communication and coexistence between different religions and civilizations, stressing his strong respect for Al-Azhar, as the foremost reference for Muslims in the world.