CAIRO: The grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, on Wednesday urged Egyptian police not to shoot protesters demanding democratic change, in a recorded address on state television. Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb also urged the armed forces to prevent confrontations between the people, while calling on protesters to maintain the peaceful nature of the demonstrations. Al-Azhar "calls on the police leadership to immediately issue orders not to point their weapons at demonstrators … no matter what the reasons," Al-Tayyeb said. It calls "on the armed forces to throw all their weight behind preventing confrontations between one people," he said. "Al-Azhar also calls on our children in Tahrir Square and all the squares of Egypt to maintain the peaceful nature of their revolution, despite the sacrifices and difficulties they face and to protect all private and public property." In the unusually strong statement from Al-Azhar, Tayyeb said that any dialogue "stained with blood is doomed and its fruit will be bitter." The statement comes a day after the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) held talks with a number of political forces in a bid to contain the worst crisis it has faced since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's long-time defense minister now in charge of the country, on Tuesday attempted to placate protesters with a speech assuring them that the military does not seek indefinite rule. On Wednesday, clashes raged for a fifth day between police and protesters demanding that the SCAF step down and hand power to a civilian authority. The violence that first broke out on Saturday has left at least 35 people dead, according to the health ministry.
