Al-Azhar, the highest religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world, demanded on Monday that the Syrian government put an end to the bloodshed in Syria and respond to the people‘s demands. Ongoing protests, which first erupted in Syria in March, have been calling for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. The Syrian regime met the protesters with brutal force, resulting in the deaths of nearly 2000 civilians and the injury of thousands more, according to estimates from human rights groups. Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb called on the Syrian government to stop "facing unarmed people with gunfire… over several months, during which lives have been wasted." In a statement, Tayeb said that Al-Azhar has been "patient for a long time and has avoided discussing the Syrian case due to its sensitive nature." Tayeb went on to say that Al-Azhar must “declare that the situation has gone too far." Tayeb appealed to Al-Azhar officials in Syria to look after the proud Syrian people. He added that the Syrian people's current suffering is an unacceptable human tragedy about which it is imposssible to remain silent, and that spilled blood only serves to inflame revolutions. Translated from the Arabic Edition
