Egypt rival political forces in talks
2013-01-31 13:01
Cairo - Egypt's top cleric on Thursday brought together
rival political factions and called for dialogue over the political crisis and
deadly unrest gripping the country.
Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb chaired talks between liberal
opposition heads, Islamists, revolutionary youth groups, church members and
independents at the headquarters of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of
learning, an AFP reporter said.
Present at the talks were leaders of the opposition National
Salvation Front including former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei
and ex-Arab League chief Amr Mussa.
Saad al-Katatni, head of the Freedom and Justice Party of
President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, was also attending, along with
other Islamist parties such as Al-Wasat and representatives of Egypt's
churches.
The meeting is the latest attempt for dialogue between
Egypt's political factions.
A week of deadly unrest has left almost 60 people dead and
the country deeply split between Morsi's Islamist allies and an opposition of
leftists, liberals, Christians as well as religious Muslims.
On Wednesday, ElBaradei called for urgent talks, just two
days after the opposition rejected an appeal for dialogue from Morsi.
