CAIRO: Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb on Thursday called on the Arab region to strengthen their unity and relationship on regional affairs, likening regional consensus to the European Union. Tayeb said Arab leaders should support and assist the Palestinians in their quest for statehood at the United Nations later this month. Tayeb made the comments while meeting with Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs, Youssef ben Elwy ben Abdullah. The two discussed regional affairs. The Omani Minister asked al-Azhar to provide Oman with Islamic cirriculum. The comments come after Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Egypt's al-Azhar – the Sunni Islamic world's leading institution – on Tuesday, saying it supports the spread of moderate Islam in the Middle East. “Egypt and Turkey look forward to the spread of moderate Islam, particularly since both countries have historically rejected extremism,” Erdogan said after meeting with al-Azhar's Grand Imam. BM