CAIRO: The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, reiterated his call for Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church, to officially apologize for insulting Islam. El-Tayeb said such an apology is a basic condition for resumption of interfaith dialogue between the two religious authorities. El-Tayeb met with Michael Girard, Ambassador of the Holy See to Egypt, and refused to resume relations between Al-Azhar and the Vatican until the Pope apologizes for insulting Islam and Muslims. El-Tayeb also said during the meeting that relations between the two faiths are normal, despite the fact that official relations between Al-Azhar and the Vatican are frozen. El-Tayeb said Pope Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, loved Muslims and always sought to engage in dialogue with them, reported state news agency MENA. Al-Azhar indefinitely suspended its interfaith dialogue with the Vatican in January 2011 in response to Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on the status of Christians in the Middle East. Tensions date back to the Pope's call for protection of Christians in Egypt and Iraq. He called on governments in the Middle East to protect their Christian minorities after two recent attacks that targeted Christians. Twenty-three Egyptian Christians were killed after a bomb targeted Two Saint's Church in Alexandria following a mass on New Year`s Eve. BM
